Morning all. Running late. No real excuses, just hit the snooze button one too many times. So let’s jump into the day. Better late than never, right? Timers set, and off we go…
I always feel calmer and more settled after a writing prompt. Not entirely sure where this is going, but it was fun to write. I may keep the character rather than the story line from this one. Which is kind of nice. I’ve gotten a bunch of new story lines lately but now I have several story ideas needing main characters. So this might help, maybe I can find a match.
Thursday, June 8th: The hole looked deep.
The hole looked deep. He peered into it wondering if he could see to the bottom. He couldn’t. It was too dark. Thinking of the flashlight in the garage, the one that burned so bright and hot that it had a metal grate over it to keep anyone from touching the actual glass covering he backed away from the hole and went into the garage.
The fact that the light had a metal grate over it always amused Ian. The holes in the metal grid were about an inch square so it was easy to poke a finger through and touch the glass surface if one wanted and the metal itself got really hot from the light as well. If the light was on for any length of time he was certain you could actually grill a fish on the metal grate.
As he pulled it off the shelf he wondered if the metal grate was not infect a safety feature designed to prevent burning fingers but something simply to protect the glass. He was used to all the safety features added to things being designed to keep him safe and not to protect the mechanism that for a moment it caused him to pause and think.
Remembering the hole, he shook off the strange thought and set the heavy lamp on the ground. The cord was long but it would never reach the hole in the back yard.
‘Extension cord,’ he thought. He ran to the drawer in the cabinet where such things were kept. He tugged the drawer open. As he remembered there were several extension cords. They were all neatly coiled up with Velcro strops binding the cords tightly together so they wouldn’t get tangled. On several occasions he had forgotten the strap and caused much tangling and mayhem, earning himself the punishment of not only sorting it out but being loaned to his uncle to help clean out their garage so he would see firsthand what could happen if the little things were not seen to.
He learned his lesson and always tidied the things he used in the garage. If nothing else, it kept him from having to visit the vast catacombs of spare auto parts, wild tool boxes and broken things in a state of mid repair that was his uncle’s garage. He shifted aside the bound house extension cords and the power strips. There in the bottom of the drawer was the heavy orange coil that was the mega out door extension cord. He hauled it out of the bottom of the drawer and lifted it out. It was heavy. Just moving it made him feel like he was about to embark on something important.
He plugged in one end of the cord and tugged the Velcro free. He attached the other end of the cord to the cord of the heat lamp. He then picked up the lamp and slowly began uncoiling the extension cord as he walked to the back door and then through it, heading back to the hole. Now he would be able to see what was inside.
Ten til Midnight 