Denis has the kind of voice that without any sort of visual association creates those little butterflies in inside the listener. It was Denis’s voice that drew my attention and alerted the writer in me to the possibility of a story. First though, I should clarify that the following piece of writing is fictional. I do not know Denis and he does not know me.

_ _ _ _ _

Denis

He was dressed completely in black and he moved like a panther. Even with his left arm fastened to his body in a sling he moved with grace and assurance. His five o’clock shadow, deep brown eyes and unkempt black hair add layers to his mysterious air.

Here is a predator.

Denis’s gift of charm and charisma make achieving goals a bit too easy. He is left craving a challenge which is why he started stalking victims. Stalking gives him a sense of power and control. It is a power and control that he has to work to achieve. He uses the word “victim” in his own thoughts without realizing it.

What starts off as watching quickly escalates. He starts to toy with his victims living off the thrill of playing cat-and-mouse. This last one was different though. She was no mouse. She was fox in disguise, a vixen, a quarrelsome bitch. Just the thought of her makes his blood boil but there is a new feeling too, arousal! Denis knows that when his arm is healed he will have his day with her.

He wants nothing more than a fair fight to the finish. She got the jump at him this time. An amateur move on his part to allow the prey to surprise him with an attack. He is a fast learner so even as his body plummeted over the rail after the full force of her attack his mind set with a new resolve. In that moment he found the next level of his game.

The playful game of cat-and-mouse becomes an end game of hunter-and-prey.

_ _ _ _ _

This year I am writing a novel.

I think most if not all writers enjoy people watching. I know that I do. “Denis” is the product of one of my people watching experience. It doesn’t fit into The Nameless Files that I am currently writing but the call to write it was strong. Several of my scenes in the novel that I am working on have developed out of one people watching incident or another. We really are an interesting species.

Are you a people watcher? Do you have a favourite people watching story?

By Shari Marshall – 2021