Jenny huffed and pulled on her bag strap a little tighter, it felt heavier and her shoulder was really starting to hurt as she rushed along the sidewalk. As she approached the corner the weight became unbearable and she let the bag strap slip from her shoulder, she grabbed hold of it with both hands and struggled desperately to carry it in front of her with both hands.
“What the hell!” She screamed to herself as she struggled to keep walking. It felt like her dainty little purse was gaining weight rapidly, she could barely lift it at all now as her muscles shook with the effort. With a final step and an expulsion of air from her lungs she dropped the unbearably heavy bag to the floor.
The contents spilled out onto the concrete; make-up, money, keys, a bunched up tissue, her iPhone and an assortment of other things scattered around her. Looking around in embarrassment Jenny was relieved to see no one around and quickly knelt down to pack everything back inside her purse but squealed in frustration when she found herself unable to pick anything up.
Her jewellery, make-up, books; they were all so heavy she could barely grip them. With a frustrated yell she grabbed hold of the tissue with both hands and tried to lift it, staring at her hands in horror when even that was too heavy to lift. With extreme effort she managed to slide the tissue along the floor but it took all of her strength and it was certainly too heavy to lift. Jenny’s heart rate increased as she thought back to Kyle’s phone call that morning… It couldn’t be happening… could it?
The pit of her stomach fell away when she watched the tissue she had struggled in vain to lift simply blow away in the gentle breeze. She started to panic and tried again to lift the things around her, nothing would budge, she couldn’t even use her iPhone to call anyone for help, it was lying face down and she didn’t have the strength to turn it over. What was happening to her?!
She heard a sound behind her and stood up quickly, turning to see a man in a suit carrying a large briefcase rushing down the sidewalk towards her. Unable to clear the sidewalk of her possessions Jenny panicked and waved to the man as he approached her, “Excuse me!” She called out, “I need help!”
The rushing man slowed his pace as he approached her, with a smile of relief he said…