Morning all, I hope you are having a fantastic day. Mine is chillier than expected. I hadn’t expected the weather to dip quite so much in the night. But it is almost Thanksgiving so I suppose I should have. Still I managed to did one sweater out. So all is good. And I’ll have a closet shift later tonight. For now, the morning prompt. Timers set and let’s see what shows up.
I like the idea for this. So many directions it can go. Especially if he is getting pulled into someone else’s to do list.
Tuesday, November 19th: Parachuting had never been high on his list of activities.
Parachuting had never been high on his list of activities. In fact it never made it to any of his lists. He had made them repeatedly over the years, usually in conjunction with a new years resolution. He tended to reflect on his life at the end of the year. Then with decorations still up and champagne fizzing through his system he would look at his life and determine that a change needed to be made. In the upcoming year he would work less, live more and try out a host of new things.
It was generally the next morning that he made the list. He would add books he wanted to read, restaurants he wanted to try and tourist destinations he wanted to visit. The list changed over the years, especially in the tourist destination category. Before he would put all sorts of exotic locales as possibilities. As the years progressed, and none of them were ever checked off, he started changing them thinking weekend trips might be more practical, at least until his work life slowed down. At the end of the year, usually once he accepted an invitation to a new year’s celebration he would look over the list. While he read countless work articles and books to help him progress in his career, the fiction books he listed as interesting remained un touched. None of the restaurants were marked off and he hadn’t visited a single destination, even the ones less than an hours drive from his house.
What he did have was a fridge, freezer and pantry full of meals that simply required thawing or reheating, possibly adding something as fancy as water to the mix before putting it in the microwave. He had a stack of work-related books and a note of thanks for his putting in extra hours. He always deposited the bonus check, marking it in his mind as the money he would use for his fun trips in the upcoming year.
‘Good think I got the high interest account to put it in,’ he thought. His unused travel funds had netted him quite a nice increase from the interest.
And again each year he vowed to do better. This year however he was caught making the vow and his friend Mike decided to join him. They would keep each other on track. Possibly even joining each other on trips so that they were less likely to back out. It sounded like a good plan. He soon realized that his travel list included museums, art galleries and places like the nearby caverns. He had always had a fascination with stalagmites and stalactites.
Mike’s list, it turned out, was significantly different. And now, after going through the safety demonstrations and learning what he needed, he found himself strapped to another person and near the door of an open air craft. As the count down began, he wondered how he managed to get himself her. He was certain he protested. He remembered saying no and yet.
“Three,” he heard. The man he was bound to gave a mighty lunge and suddenly they were airborne. He tried desperately to remember what he was told. Instructions repeated in a loop.
‘Too Fast,’ he thought looking at the ground. It seemed to be coming too fast. He felt the jerk as the parachute was deployed and the ground slowed it’s rate of approach. It was somewhat better. He had an easier time remembering his instructions at least. They landed safely and he looked around for Mike. He could see him no where. There was no parachute in the sky and no other landings in the large open field. The plane was moving away. Where was Mike?
Ten til Midnight 