Life...Or Something Like It

An Ordinary Life

Part One ~ written by Gayl

Telling Corinne Blake that her life was about to take an interesting turn would elicit nothing short of a dubious stare coupled with complete silence. For most of Corinne's twenty some odd years, she had waited for something wonderful, something out of the ordinary to occur.

All she ever ended up with was humdrum.

From the time she was a child to high school, Corinne spent more time daydreaming and living in a fantasy world than anything else. She had very few friends and the ones she did manage to make relied on her to be the dependable one, the wise one, the one with all the answers to their problems. The rest labeled her, freak, geek, and dreamer.

Corinne was happier that way; her imagination knew no bounds and she seemed to have a very clear picture of the way things should be. As she grew older, Corinne spent more time with her nose stuck comfortably in a book pouring over every little detail and applying it to her life, or what she perceived her life should be, than she did in the real world.

Fairy tales, adventure, and fantasy were the stuff that filled her head. In her dreams Corinne's life was full of romance, exploits, and happiness. Corinne was on the brink of all of her fantasies spilling into her real life; she was not aware of it until the day she did something completely out of character.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, Corinne knew that she was on the threshold of changing her life.

Every day Corinne trudged to work at the Morning Herald, sipped her latte, and parked herself at the computer systematically perusing the daily influx of letters to her advice column.

Cori was exceptionally good at doling out advice to complete strangers who poured their hearts full of pain, anguish, and unrequited love out to her.

"If only they knew how lonely and pathetic my life really was they would never ever send me another letter," she mused. It never changed, this daily ritual she referred to as her uneventful existence. Cori woke up, went to work, and came home. If only her life could really be the way she imagined it in her head, the way it was in her books.

Walking onto the bustling city street, Cori was overwhelmed by the sudden urge to do something completely uncharacteristic. Everything she ever did was monotonous and predictable. What she needed was to take a bit of her own advice.

Yes, this was the day that Cori would take a leap of faith.

That night, a Thursday night, Cori got dressed up and headed to a new club that had received rave reviews in the entertainment section of the Herald. Standing at the entrance Cori's nerves got the best of her and her legs would not move.

The place was crowded and she could hear music drifting out from the upstairs dance floor. "This is ridiculous; go in, sit down, and order a drink. You can always get up and leave, no harm done other than the lack of sleep and the residual effect of a little alcohol," she firmly told herself.

Drawing in a deep breath, Cori slowly placed one foot in front of the other until she was inside. "There now, that wasn't so hard," she congratulated herself. "Now up to the bar it is."

Nervous once again, Cori stepped out of the elevator. She felt as though every eye in the bar was on her as she made her way to an open stool. Feeling extremely self conscious, she sat quickly and timidly flagged the bartender for a cocktail.

"You look like you could use one of my famous concoctions. How about I fix you a tall Delirium?" the bartender offered. Cori studied him for several moments. "Have I seen you before; you look very familiar," she mused.

He seemed amused as he gazed back, "The name is Morpheus. How about the drink; are you willing to take a chance?" His eyes seemed to glow like the new moon, mesmerizing Corinne as he waited for her response.

"Sure, a Delirium sounds great!" she responded almost too enthusiastically. She had never heard of such a drink but this adventure of hers was not about the routine; this was about diving off the cliffs and into the murky water of excitement.

Morpheus smiled slightly, "Have you ever had one before? If you haven't, you're in for quite a treat Corinne," he drawled, his voice low and melodic. Distracted, Cori never even noticed when the bartender referred to her by name.

She took a few sips of the red colored cocktail and allowed her eyes to wander curiously around the room.

The rhythmic pulse of the music intoxicated her as the crimson liquid slid down her throat.

Feeling the sudden urge to dance, Cori rose from the stool and made her way to the dance floor. She didn't know why she suddenly felt so free from the bonds of being who she was. Instead, she was a temptress, a siren, a southern belle, as she moved and swayed to the pulsating beat of the music.

Corinne did not know at what point the room began to fade. She felt herself falling as though she had tumbled into a deep hole, drifting, the music slowly fading away until blackness surrounded her.

When Corinne finally awakened, she found herself in unfamiliar surroundings. Reeling slightly and unsteady, Cori willed her eyes to focus.

Still disoriented, she tried to assess her situation, but quickly abandoned that thought as she found herself instead consumed with a sudden, overwhelming craving for…

Since Beth volunteered to resume where this left off ~~ Beth, tag, you're it!