Morning all. I’m getting a bit of a late start today. The bed was just too comfortable to leave behind this morning. It is the curse of Monday morning I’m afraid. Two days of not getting up with an alarm clock and my body isn’t happy to go back to the work week. Still it must me done. So let’s kick this week off with a new writing prompt. Stretch out those fingers and get that timer set. everyone ready? Fabulous, Let’s get to it then.
Okay now I am curious as to what actually happened on this scavenger hunt. I think this could be fun and sort of horror-esque. I might have to set this aside to work on. Kind of a nice way to start the first prompt of the week.
Monday, April 19th: A number of possible routes led north.
A number of possible routes led north. The directions were vague enough that it wasn’t immediately clear which to take. She spread the map out on the hood of his car and took the directions out of his pocket. He unfolded the typewritten sheet of paper. He ignored the colorful heading proclaiming this to be a Funtime Scavenger Hunt. From the way it was printed on the page he wasn’t certain if Funtime was a company name, the name of the scavenger hunt or someone’s opinion of the scavenger hunt.
Personally, he didn’t really care.
He wasn’t on the hunt to have a good time. He scanned the directions. They were suitably vague.
Head north and look for the bear in the fork following his directions until you see the sign of the sun.
As far as directions went, he assumed it would mean something to someone from the area.
‘Or the organizers found a fork in the road and placed a bear statue there with a sign pointing in on direction.’
He felt a nervous quiver at the thought. The official scavenger hunt was long over. He didn’t know if the landmarks would still be in place or if someone would have removed them. He was hoping that the organizers used what was there. From what he learned of them in the past few weeks they weren’t the sort to over stretch themselves and he was hoping that translated into using local landmarks or at least not bothering to take down the ones they installed.
He looked at his map. He knew that somewhere along the way something went wrong. At some point they would have left the designated course. But he didn’t know where that would be. He thought his best bet at the moment would be to follow the course as best as he was able and then look for deviations in the path.
The fact that he might have to complete the course and then double back over all the different sections once through was a daunting one, but it was a task he was willing to undertake. After all no one else seemed very interested in finding out what happened. He bent over the map looking for any place where a road looked like it forked as he shoved his exasperation away. As he traced lines with his fingers he was startled to hear the sound of a car engine approaching. He hadn’t seen or heard another vehicle for the past hour. He didn’t think the roads here were that often used.
He looked up and saw the slow approach of one of the vehicles from the county sheriff’s office. He grit his teeth and reminded himself to be pleasant. The fact that the office had been even less helpful than the scavenger hunt organizers didn’t endear them to him, but he was in their area and antagonizing them while he searched didn’t seem like the smartest idea.
The car pulled to a stop. He checked his car. It was pulled well off the side of the road. The driver’s side door on the vehicle opened and one of the men got out.
“I just needed to stop and check my map Officer,” he called. The man walked over. He recognized the sheriff.
“The scavenger folks called to let me know you’d be out here. Figured you might want some company running the course. After all it is supposed to be a group activity. And since I’ve actually been down these roads before, I might actually be able to spot something.”
He tried to see the emption behind the words. To see if the sheriff was mocking him or annoyed by his efforts. To his surprise the offer seemed genuine.
“I would like that,” he said. “Do you know any forks in the road that have bears with them?”
Ten til Midnight 