Figment Daily Theme: Sigil
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Tell this storyEveryone carries a mark that tells how many lives they have lived. Write about a character who hides the fact that their mark is an infinity symbol.
EXT. A SUNNY PARK - DAY
DOUGLAS CARVON dressed in dirty, work leather jacket and jeans with boots slightly too small, sits, studying his hand, right hand, front and back.
Back and front.
Front and back.
It's clean. His cuticles are well-trimmed and neat.
Back.
Front.
His palm is creased and just a bit calloused. Clean, though, like the back. Lines run every-which way, as if confused.
Douglas looks confused.
Then he just looks tired.
Drops his hand to his side and gets up with a resigned look. He's mid-20's but looks somewhere in his late 30's. He looks tired.
INT. STARBUCK'S - DAY
The coffee shop is only half-full this early in the day. A couple of guys sit noodling over their screenplays, a cluster of girls clearly skipping class suck on dirty lattes, and the two BARISTAS on duty, male and female, are chatting away about boy problems, despite being in their early 30's. It's a Starbuck's.
Douglas trudges in and the door bell jingles.
GIRL BARISTA
Hi! Welcome to Starbuck's! What can I get you?
He studies the menu. Squints and considers.
DOUGLAS
Narino 70 cold brew, tall, half-ice, shot of whipped.
GIRL BARISTA
Narino 70 cold brew, tall, half-ice, shot of --
Shot of whipped cream on top?
DOUGLAS
Shot of whipped cream on top. You only live once, right?
GIRL BARISTA
(cheerily)
Right! That'll be $2.42.
Douglas rummages around in his pocket with his right hand and dredges up a few wrinkled dollar bills.
DOUGLAS
Keep the change.
The barista looks mildly disgruntled as she turns away, ponytail flipping.
DOUGLAS
That's for Doug.
She scribbles something barely legible fronted by a D as Douglas slouches into a chair by the window.
Right hand. Front. Back.
Clean. Lines.
Back. Front.
GUY BARISTA
Doug! Your Narino, buddy.
Doug raises his hand and stands to take the cold coffee.
From the barista's right hand.
On it, there's an elaborate 32, like a tattoo but somehow floating under the surface of the skin, delicate traceries of veins and subsurface skin fat globules back-lit by the faint blue-green glow.
The barista barely glances at Douglas' hand but grins.
GUY BARISTA
Oh, hey, newbie right! Not a lot of new souls in Saint Louis, I'm told.
GIRL BARISTA
Newbie? Oh, hi!
She looks embarrassed while making a latte for a new customer.
GIRL BARISTA
Sorry about earlier. Long day. If I'd known you were a newbie, I'd have been cool, y'know?
DOUGLAS
Yeah. Sorry. It's what I've got. Hard to get a job if you don't go flashing some glow around everywhere, right?
GUY BARISTA
So I've heard. Everybody's looking for folks with experience, like. Doesn't seem fair.
GIRL BARISTA
Don't think I've ever met a newbie before. What's it like?
DOUGLAS
What's it like?
He fumbles with his coffee a moment, turning it gently on the palm of his left hand cradling it from beneath.
DOUGLAS
Different, I guess. People look at you differently, like you don't know anything or like you know everything. It's never just you.
He shifts the cup to his right hand and takes a long drink, half the thing in a pull.
GIRL BARISTA
You've gotta be thirsty, man. I've never seen anyone drain half a tall in one go. Maybe you do know the secrets of pre-life!
Douglas gives a half-grin and shrugs one shoulder.
DOUGLAS
The secret is to really be thirsty, it to be a warm spring day, and be wearing a leather coat. Remember that. It'll save your life one day.
He nods with full sincerity and the baristas crack up briefly.
GUY BARISTA
Check out the freshie dispensing wisdom!
DOUGLAS
It's a gift.
GIRL BARISTA
If you're really looking for a job, the co-op could use some extra hands down on fifth. It's not great money, just loading and unloading trucks, but you've got to start somewhere.
She giggles a little.
GIRL BARISTA
I guess. You're really getting started!
Douglas quirks a smile at her.
DOUGLAS
I guess I am. Be good, you two. Or be good at it.
Both baristas wave, the girl waving back-handed to show off the glowing 6.
Douglas lifts his right hand in a sharp two-finger salute then steps out of the door.
EXT. CITY STREET - DAY
Traffic's still only light even this far downtown.
Douglas walks down the street, shoulders hunched as if against the sun, head down.
He walks by people regularly. Each of them has a blue-green glowing numeral on their right hands.
Walking the dog.
Buying a hot dog.
Holding their child's hand as they cross the street. The child has a prominent 92.
Joggers.
Douglas carefully pulls his left hand out of his pocket and takes an almost furtive look at it.
A sedate blue-green glowing infinity sigil floats under the skin.
He shoves it deep back into the pocket and trudges on, looking up a moment to see the sign for Fifth and make the corner.
DOUGLAS
(to himself)
Been a long day. Yeah.
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