Morning all. I woke up with the Green Acres Theme song n my head. No clue why. Just thought I’d share the joy. You know what will get it gone though, a writing prompt. So fifteen minutes on the timer please and lets get going.
I think I will have to think about this as well as what sort of files are being hidden. I like the idea of finding things others are pretending are destroyed though.
Tuesday, May 21st: The records were considered lost.
The records were considered lost. ‘Officially,’ he murmured under his breath. He saw the listing in the files. People had sworn under oath that they were not in the archives. ‘Destroyed in the fire,’ he recalled.
Yet here they were.
James looked around. For the moment he was alone. He usually was, especially this far back in the archives. His research involved materials only a few feet away. ‘From a secret door.’
James felt his heart speed up. He knew he was not supposed to be here. He stepped away from the boxes and looked around the small room. There was no dust on the files so no marks of his feet on the floor. No one would know he was there.
‘If I can get out without being seen.’
He stepped back and pulled the hidden door shut, making sure it latched. The click sounded loud to his ears. He only found the door because he was extending a hunch for his research. The information he thought might be useful turned out to be not so useful. It was when he reshelved those files that he noticed the anomaly in the wall and went investigating.
‘So maybe I didn’t follow the hunch,’ he thought. ‘Since it was a complete dead end maybe I don’t mention it at all.’
He quickly moved to the area where he usually researched and began searching the file names for a few he wanted to check out. He pulled one and then reached for another to add to his collection. He knew that someone would be by to check on him soon. While there wee no cameras here to watch researchers, the staff made certain to circulate. There was one archivist in particular who made certain to check on him repeatedly when he worked. Always he walked bast James as he worked and towards the hidden door. He looked at the files and James always thought he was trying to nonchalantly study his actions as though expecting evil of him when not directly observed.
‘But what if he is checking on the hidden door and making sure no one found it?’ It was a tantalizing thought. James closed the file and slid it back on the shelf realizing it would not help him. He reached for another file as the archivist came around the corner. James looked up at the sound of a foot fall, offered the customary nod and half smile before turning back to the files. He slipped the file from the shelf and opened it. The information would help him and James nodded as he scanned it, not even having to pretend to be engrossed.
With the two files he pulled, James realized he had enough information to get him where he needed to be with his project. He picked up the two files and turned away. The archivist paused and turned. His eyes flicked to the wall and then to James.
“Finished?” he asked. His voice was pleasant enough and James wondered if he was ascribing conspiracy to him unnecessarily.
“I have enough for today,” James said. He smiled.
“But you will be back tomorrow?”
“I don’t know,” James said honestly. “I have the sections of Fergamot’s law of 1608 covered and this should get me the Hercot Rebellion, or at least the details I need, but there is something missing. I just can’t quite figure out what it is.”
“And you will return until you do,” the man nodded but seemed relieved.
Ten til Midnight 