Morning all. I hope you had a fabulous weekend. Mine wasn’t too bad. I finished my blackberry harvest and abandoned the remnants on the bush to the birds. Which now means the back porch is speckled with blackberries as the guests at the berry banquet fought over the fruit often exploding them in the process. So the concrete is purple polka dotted until the rains come. Fun. Are you ready for the morning prompt? Fabulous, timers set and off we go.
I kinda like Mikey.
Monday, July 21st: The beam was cut clean through.
The beam was cut clean through. It wasn’t a new cut, but Brian didn’t care for it. He heard the sound of footsteps, heavy on the stairs’ treads and going up. ‘Mikey,’ he could tell by the sound of them. Mikey was the heaviest of his crew and they often had to reenforce things for him. ‘Hell.’
“No one on the upper floor,” Brian called loudly. He heard the steps stop. There was a pause. Brian held his breath. There was always a point where he knew Mikey might choose to listen to him or might choose to ignore him. It could go either way. The problem with Mikey was that he was both big and smart.
He had always been big, hitting 6’4” before high school and continuing up, topping out eventually at 6’9”. He had also never been what anyone would consider slender. He wasn’t beanpole tall, he was built like a Mack truck. Big. Wide. Heavy.
While it gave him the advantage of being able to survive things that took down others and shake off many dangers as inconsequential, it also meant that others often thought of him as dumb. A slow mind to go with the over sized body. So he often got warnings as though he had been repeatedly dropped on his head. People tended to talk slow and over enunciate when talking to Makey. As a result he tended to evaluate any danger on his own internal system. Brian had never talked down to him so often he considered Brian’s warnings more than the others.
Mikey stood, deciding whether the danger was worth his consideration. Brian tried not to sigh, hating adding extra explanation at top volume.
“The support beam is cut through. How the entire floor hasn’t crashed down on it’s own is a shocker. We need to reenforce it before anyone goes up,” Brian yelled. He heard the shift in weight and was relieved when Mikey started back down the stairs. Brian went to the supplies and got the roll of yellow caution tape. Usually they used it to warn of still wet floor sealant or something mundane. He hoped it would keep people off the stairs even though no new stain was evident on the floor.
‘At least until we get the replacement beam in.’
He reached the stairs just as Mikey descended. Mikey helped him tie off the caution tape to block the stairs. “You’ll have to tell the others,” Mikey said.
Brian nodded. Mikey may have been smart but the rest of the crew was hit or miss and none of them would listen to Mikey’s warnings.
“Boss isn’t gonna like it,” Mikey added before walking away. Brain ran a hand through his hair. ‘That’s the understatement of the year.’ He decided.
Ten til Midnight 