Writing Prompt: The map was only partially hidden.

Really need coffee. But first, the prompt. Ready? Fabulous, let’s go.

Interesting. Not sure what the race is, so I’d need to think about that, but interesting.

Tuesday, September 27th: The map was only partially hidden.

The map was only partially hidden.  In fact it was such a poor job of concealment, I thought at first it was a red herring.  Surely if it was actually important they would have hidden the map completely so I wouldn’t know their plans. 

‘It has to be a trap,’ I thought. 

Still I photographed the map with my phone making sure to get both sides of the map as well as a few close up shots of their notes. Later that night, once everything was back in place I took a blank map and transposed their route and notes onto the clean copy.  I stared at the page. 

The route they planned to take through the mountains seemed like a logical one.  However I had been in the area before and knew it was more treacherous than it looked.  On paper it looked as though it was the shortest route and held the easiest passage.  If only the paper map was consulted such a route would have the possibility of putting them ahead of everyone else. 

But I had been in the area.  We all had.  The loose stone and potential for landslides in that area was enormous.  The road was in ill repair and could barely even be termed a road any more. 

‘It is more the ghost of a road,’ I thought.  I traced a finger along the path.  All of the notes referenced that route.  Times were configured using the mileage and when I held the original in my hands I could feel the pointes where the point of the compass had been pushed in too far as the mileage was calculated.  There was no mention of the road conditions.

‘But we were all taken to the mountain to look at conditions before we began.’ I reminded myself.  ‘Each of us was given the same opportunity to see what there was so we could prepare.’

I pushed the map away.  “It is a trap,” I decided.  The partially hidden map so ill concealed it practically begged to be investigated.  The shorter route marked in red with all of the notations pointing to it being the best route and the one they planned to take. 

I snorted and crumpled the facsimile of their map into a little bal.  I threw it into the trash can.  Clearly they expected me to fall for it and attempt the shorter path.  This was a trick I wasn’t going to fall for.  I would be taking the route I planned.  They would not trick me into altering it.

Confident they had no secret information I finished my preparations for the day.  We were each given a list of acceptable gear and mine had already been checked over and approved.  Still I was nervous enough to take everything out again and inspect it for damage one last time before I left.  The route I chose was safer than the route the others wanted to get me to take but it would by no means be an easy path.  It would take all of my skill to make it through. 

There was a part of me that wanted to win, to beat the others in this trial to prove that I could not only hold my own but that I could beat them.  The more realistic part of me knew that holding my own might be the best I could do.  They had better equipment and from their talk it seemed as though they had much more experience than I did.  If I could make it through without too much trouble, I would consider myself a winner even if I didn’t take the prize.

My last thought as I got ready for bed was that they wouldn’t have tried to trick me if they didn’t think I was a threat.  It was an oddly pleasing one.