And so the story continues fifteen minutes at a time…
Day 9: “One?” Anna asked. “I am glad to know I am not the only one even if I never see the others.”
“One?” Anna asked. “I am glad to know I am not the only one even if I never see the others.”
“Well at the moment I don’t know if there are others, but I have seen other people go into the archives before. I’m just not entirely certain I have seen them come out again.”
“I’ll let you know if I see any skeletons lurking in corners,” Anna told him.
“Oh there won’t be any skeletons. Ms. Travers would never allow anything as unsightly as a decomposing researcher in her archives. Although she might send them up to the science lab for study rather than calling in the police.”
“Let me guess, fingerprint dust,” Anna said.
“Exactly. She’d never allow it. I didn’t catch your name…” Christopher let the sentence trail off as though not sure he should ask since she didn’t volunteer.
“Sorry, too distracted by thoughts of missing researchers, Anna,”
“Nice to meet you Anna,” Christopher said. “Since I see you so often heading towards the archives. I like having a name to put with a face. It makes me think I know people. So did you take the day off?”
“I did,” Anna said. “I went to the archives but as soon as I was there I found my list of errands and realized that if I didn’t complete them today they wouldn’t get done until next week when they would need to be done out of desperation.”
Anna disliked adding so much to her explanation but she didn’t recall if she saw Christopher that morning and taking a day off when she was spotted at the archives might look odd.”
“Ah,” he said. “I thought I saw you there.”
“For my total of ten minutes?” Anna said.
“Well I saw you go in, didn’t see you come out and then when I saw you here I was thrilled to find you weren’t on your way to be studied by the science labs with your skeleton eventually going on display in one of the classrooms.”
“Wow quite the after life for deceased researchers, who knew?”
Outside thunder cracked loudly and lightning flashed. They both looked as fat drops began to pelt the sidewalk. “Well,” Anna said watching the fat drops suddenly become a deluge.
“I don’t suppose I could tempt you to stay for another cup?” Christopher asked.
“I’m not sure about another cup but I would be happy to offer you company while you delay your departure with yours,” Anna said.
“Excellent,” Christopher said. He slipped into the seat across from her so they could share the table. “Not to besmirch your talisman of an umbrella, but I am not quite certain it is up to that.”
Anna looked back to the window and saw the wind decided to join the mix. It was gusting hard enough that the rain was blowing sideways.
“No I don’t suppose it is,” she said. A petty part of her hoped that if anyone was following her they were now soaked and regretting attempting to follow her home. ‘Maybe anyone flowing will just leave.’
Ten til Midnight 