Ah Thursday. I always feel better on Thursdays. I think it is because of the paranoia of Wednesday actually. I hit Wednesday realizing the week is half over and there is so much left to do. Then I wake up Thursday and realize my Wednesday freak out actually put me a little ahead. Well, still things to do, so let’s get started with the morning prompt. Everyone ready? Fabulous. Let’s go.
This could be an interesting short story or something longer. I don’t know which. I might have to think about it for a bit.
Thursday, May 18th: She unlocked the shed.
She unlocked the shed. As always she wondered why anyone would bother locking the shed. It was a rickety wooden thing that she was certain could be pushed over with little effort should anyone want to bother.
‘The lock is the most substantial part of the shed,’ she thought, not for the first time as she tucked her keys away into her back pocket. The shorts were a little too tight. They were last year’s and while she didn’t think she got any bigger, recently Kevin had been helping out with the laundry.
While he was trying to help by doing a few chores here and there, he seemed to be of the belief that the only way to get anything clean was to use the hottest water possible and the strongest soap. ‘Luckily we only have color safe bleach in the house.’
She was certain he used bleach in every load. Several of her more delicate undergarments were not responding well to the laundry blitz and at least half of her clothing items were a little too tight.
‘No one out here to notice right now,’ she thought. Most of the clothes she was wearing now were older. In the fall, she would go shopping and if Kevin continued with his helpfulness, she suspected she would be replacing more than usual. She doubted that his helpfulness would last past the summer.
‘I doubt it will last past Aunt Lucy’s visit,’ she said. She stepped into the shed, careful to keep to the center rather than to step into the shadow filled corners. There were spiders galore and she was well aware that this was their domain and she was just a visitor. Her hope was to get in, get the shovel and get back out without getting bitten.
In the background she could hear Kevin and his overly solicitous voice as he offered to fetch Aunt Lucy some more lemonade. She rolled her eyes. He could not be more obvious. Aunt Lucy held the reigns of the family fortune. She controlled their grandfather’s estate and made the decisions regarding it’s division. Kevin was intent on getting as large a portion as possible.
Spotting the shovel, she grabbed it and backed away as quickly as she could. If she disturbed any spiders, they remained agitated in their webs instead of coming after her. She stepped back into the sunlight and swung the shed door closed. She yanked her keys out of her pocket and relocked the shed.
This summer, she agreed to come out and help fix up the old house. There was payment for the service as well as a list of duties. The payment was less than she would make waiting tables in town, but the hours were the ones she set for herself and the work was nice.
‘And aside from Kevin, no one to really bother me.’ Two weeks after she arrived and started work, Kevin showed up. He had been fired from yet another job and decided he would take up Aunt Lucy’s offer as well. He then set up his portable wireless router in his room and only looked up from his laptop when he needed to go to the kitchen to refuel.
Then, of course Aunt Lucy came to visit. She shook her head. Worrying about Kevin wasn’t going to get that flower bed planted.
Ten til Midnight 