SPENCER JONES - JUST ANOTHER FRIDAY NIGHT

Spencer Jones is a tabletop gaming enthusiast who enjoys building model kits in his spare time. He has one cat. Currently, he resides in Orlando, FL.

​Just Another Friday Night

Another long day of work, another day ending in collapsing at home. At least, that was the intention. Instead, Jamie found herself tripping face first into her front door. She yelped, taking a moment afterwards to pick herself and dust herself off. She frowned- she’d torn a hole in her khakis, and scuffed her knee as well.  
“Uugh…” She looked down at her foot, observing a mysterious package that had been sitting on her front doorstep. 
“Huh,” she said. “I wonder what this is? I don’t remember ordering anything…“ Picking it up, Jamie opened the front door. She was greeted by her ashen grey cat, Smokey, who began to rub up against her legs. 
     “Hey, baby boy,” Jamie said affectionately. “You want some treats, don’t you?”  She tossed the package on her kitchen table, going over to a drawer and getting a bag of treats out. She opened it, tossing one to Smokey. He leaped up, snatching it out of the air and greedily scarfing it down. She tossed him another one before closing the bag and stuffing it back in the drawer.
“Alright, Smokey. I dunno what this package is, but if it explodes in my face, you know where my will is.” 
She moved over to the knife block, grabbing her opener of preference: the ten inch kitchen knife. She took a moment to flex her fingers dramatically, licking her upper lip. “Alright...time to begin the operation.” 
As she deftly cut open the package, Smokey jumped up on the table to examine the contents.
“Nurse Smokey, I do believe we’ve found the problem!” She declared, grabbing an item that was barely peeking out from under the packing peanuts. “It’s...it’s...an egg?” 
Jamie lifted it up, brows furrowed in confusion. It was jet black, and fit snugly into her palm. The surface was mottled, with slight dimples here and there. 
She set the egg back down in the box, taking a moment to rub her temples. Smokey cautiously leaned over, briefly swatting at the egg before backing off and hiding beneath the rim of the box. The upper half of his face just barely stuck out from behind. 
“What the heck kind of egg even is this?” Jamie asked, throwing her hands up in the air. “Who could have sent this? Why? I’m at a loss, Smokey,” she sighed, arms falling to her sides.  “What do you think?”
“Mreow,” Smokey let out. 
“Very insightful,” Jamie replied, raising a hand up to stroke her chin as she nodded sagely. “So, here’s the real question: is it too late to call the police? Is this edible?” She eyed the egg. 
“Do I even want to eat it?” She continued. “Sheesh! I can’t even with this thing. I just can’t.”
Jamie moved into the living room, stopping at her desk and flicking her PC on. She began undoing her ponytail as she headed back to change out of her work clothes.
    A few minutes later, she came back out, wearing a worn-out blue sweatshirt and pajama pants. Her hair had been let down, hanging behind her shoulders in tangled strands. 
    “Let’s see if I can find any information about this,” Jamie said. Smokey hopped up onto the desk to watch her as she started her internet browser. 
        “Maybe it’s…a bird egg? Let’s start with that.” 
 She spent several minutes searching, but to no avail. 
    “Uhhh…lizards lay eggs too, right? Maybe that’s it.” 
More time passed. Jamie let out a frustrated sigh. “No luck with that, either. Maybe… maybe it’s…a snake egg?” 
Just then, as she asked this, a loud noise from the kitchen table startled Jamie. She turned to look, eyes drifting back over to the package.
The egg had started to hatch. 

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