Morning all. I awoke at the tale end of a dream where someone yelled ‘Release the Hounds!’ And several hundred Pugs raced across a close cropped lawn. They had the mouth open, heavy breathing sound you expect from pugs as they run. That’s when I woke up, the mental image of the mass of heavy breathing pugs racing across a well manicured lawn. No idea what the rest of the dream entailed but that sight will stay with me the rest of the day and I feel I should share it. You are welcome. Now on to the prompt.
I think I need to think about backstory before I get into this. Also it is a bit jumbled as I started with one idea and it morphed as I started writing.
Tuesday, February 13th: Blueprints were laid across the table.
Blueprints were laid across the table. The kitchen light shone down bright on them, illuminating every corner of the plan. Anna wasn’t supposed to be thee, but she brought coffee and made sure the men planning had refills and when they took a break to think, slices of carrot cake. She made it fresh that day because she knew Frank was having company.
They looked amused at that but said nothing. She knew they thought her simple. They held out their plates for extra slices and grunted in appreciation when she topped off their mugs but once their initial amusement faded, they forgot she was even in the room. She was simply the dispenser of coffee.
She hovered at the back and tried to blend into the wall until more coffee was needed. While she waited, hidden in plain sight, she listened. The plan was simple. Get in and get out. The fact that they were making it unnecessarily complicated was not something she intended to point out. She saw their plans, heard their details and knew that they would fail. She didn’t bother pointing this out to them.
There was a slim chance they would succeed. There were things she was certain would trip them up though and she wondered how it would impact her own plans. She planned to slip out once they left knowing they would be gone for three weeks before they could actually initiate the plan. Pieces had to be put into place. Then, they wouldn’t be coming right home. They would need to be elsewhere in case anyone came looking. She doubted they would make it that far. Even she knew the security system had been updated. They didn’t seem to know that even though ther were several articles written about it. She read them all on line and compared it to those they were using as their model.
There was a world of difference.
She thought she would have time to gather what she needed and leave without a trace by the time any of them were back, if any made it back. Now, she didn’t know when they might find out about the new system, if they might call a delay and go home while they replanned.
So she listened. She waited for mention of the new system. It never came and by the time the group broke up they were all well pleased with the plan. She searched herself and found that whatever shred of loyalty she had was long gone. There had been too much, to much pain, too much wear on that particular strand and it weathered and frayed. Her loyalty was gone, her love had vanished. And soon, she would be gone as well.
Everything her was in his name. She could take none of it and was in the end happy to let it go as she wanted nothing that reminded her of this place.
She knew he wasn’t one for details. As she had been trying to escape her own past when she met him, she never shared. He was happy enough not to have to listen to details that weren’t about him. She was happy-ish for a time but she was done. And without those details he would have an even harder time trying to find her should he ever look.
Ten til Midnight 