Black Tide Part 1

By Tram Doan

Khi ánh nắng ban mai xuyên qua cửa sổ phòng ngủ, Charles Friedman đánh rơi chiếc chạy tiếp sức bằng gỗ.

Đã nhiều năm rồi Charles mới gặp lại giấc mơ đó, vậy mà bây giờ anh thấy mình đứng đó, cao lớn ở tuổi mười hai, chạy tiếp sức vòng thứ ba trong một cuộc thi trại hè, một cuộc đua loại trực tiếp. Trận đấu giữa đội Xanh và đội Xám. Bầu trời trong xanh vô tận, đám đông bên ngoài nhấp nhô như sóng - sóng đầu đinh, má hồng mà anh sẽ không bao giờ nhìn thấy ở bất cứ nơi nào khác ngoại trừ nơi đây. Đồng đội của anh, Kyle Bergman, đang chạy về phía Charles, không dẫn trước đội anh bao nhiêu, má anh phồng lên xẹp xuống theo từng hơi thở.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Publishdrive
• Release date: Jun 3, 2024

Book preview

BLACK TIDE PART 1

TRAM DOAN

TABLE OF CONTENTS

BLACK TIDE PART 1

When the morning sunlight penetrated the bedroom window

The End

By Tram Doan 2024

BLACK TIDE PART 1

When the morning sunlight penetrated the bedroom window

When the morning sunlight penetrated the bedroom window, Charles Friedman dropped the wooden relay relay.

It had been many years since Charles had seen that dream again, and yet now he found himself standing there, tall at the age of twelve, running the third round relay in a summer camp competition, a knockout race. match between the Blue team and the Gray team. The sky was endlessly blue, the crowd outside was undulating like waves - waves of pinheads, rosy cheeks that he would never see anywhere else except here. His teammate Kyle Bergman was running towards Charles, not much ahead of his team, his cheeks rising and falling with each breath.

Here we go...

Charles braced himself, ready to receive the relay baton. His fingers twitched slightly, waiting for the stick to hit his palm.

And here it is! It's time! Charles took the stick.

Suddenly a loud groan rang out.

Charles stopped, looking down in panic. The stick lies precariously under the track. The Gray Team completed the relay, flashing past Charles toward a previously unlikely victory. The fans for the Gray team went crazy with joy, the cheers of joy mixed with the disappointed jeers that kept echoing in Charles's head.

That was also the moment Charles woke up. Always the same. Woke up, breathing heavily, bed sheets soaked with sweat. Charles looked at his empty hands. He hit the bedsheets as if the relay was still there, thirty years later.

But there was only Tobey, a white West Highland retriever, lying with his legs stretched out under his chest, staring at him waiting.

Charles sighed and slumped back against the pillows.

He glanced at his watch. Ten past six. Ten minutes before the alarm. His wife, Karen, was lying spooned next to him. He

didn't get much sleep. He stayed awake from three to four in the morning, intently watching the Women's Athletes Championship on ESPN2, not turning on the sound because he didn't want to affect his wife. Something was weighing heavily on Charles' mind.

Perhaps it was the huge position he took in the Canadian oil sands market last Thursday and held it through several risky weekends, when oil prices leaked out. out somehow. Or maybe it's the way he puts more capital into six-month gas contracts, while drawing down on one-year contracts. On Friday, the stock index for fuel products continued to decline. He was really scared every time he got out of bed, because he was afraid to look at the screen this morning to see what was going on there.

Or is it Sasha?

For the past ten years, Charles has run an energy cooperative investment fund in Manhattan, with real financial capacity above borrowing up to one-eighth. From the outside, with his reddish-brown hair, horn-rimmed glasses and calm appearance, he looks more like a real estate investor or a consultant than an introvert (even in his dreams). Think about the fact that you have been living in hell, even the second level of hell.

Charles, in his boxers, pushed himself up on his elbows, and stopped. Tobey jumped out of bed and frantically scratched at the door.

Let it go, brother. Karen stirred, rolled onto her side, and tugged at the blanket above her head.

Are you sure you want to go out? - Charles asked the dog again, now with his ears back, tail wagging, jumping on his hind legs waiting, as if he might be about to turn the doorknob with his teeth. - You know what will happen.

"Come on, Charles, it's your turn this morning.

Those last words are beautiful...

Charles got out of bed and opened the door that led out into a yard about half a yard wide and surrounded by a fence, a block of houses near the strait in Old Greenwich. Tobey rushed out into the yard, chasing the scent that some rabbit or squirrel had left.

Then immediately, the dog began hissing in its high-pitched, instinctive language.

Karen rubbed the pillow over her head and also let out a growl. Ggggruh......

So, every day started like that, Charles slowly walked into the kitchen, turned on CNN and plugged in the coffee pot, hearing the sound of a dog barking from outside. After that, he went into his office to check the online sales in Europe before taking a shower.

That morning, the sales weren't very good, only reaching a price of $72.10. Continues to decrease. Charles did a quick calculation in his head. He was forced to sell three more contracts. Several million dollars were lost. Charles soaked in the bathtub, it was just a little after six in the morning.

Outside, Tobey was barking furiously, for up to three minutes without stopping. In the bathroom, Charles