Morning all. I hope you are having a fantastic day. I had some sort of silly dream when I was waking up. I can’t remember any of it but it made me laugh and I woke up with a smile. Which is not a bad way to wake up. So my day is off to a good start. Let’s continue with the morning prompt. Timers set for fifteen minutes and off we go.
No clue what is in the packet but I am going to have to spend some time with this story at lunch today. Really kind of like it.
Thursday, January 8th: He counted carefully.
He counted carefully. The item he needed was on the eighth hook. To reach it he would need to purchase all the items on the previous seven hooks. He had a bag of coins and he had already counted them six times. He wiped his sweaty palms on his trousers and took a deep breath. Time was running short and he needed to get this done. James began to insert coins into the slot. He loaded them in one after the other and pressed the necessary buttons. The spiral metal began to corkscrew and the first item dropped to the base of the machine. One down.
He inserted the next set of coins and repeated the process. The machine whined but dropped the second item without incident. The third forth and fifth also fell easily. He could tell the machine wasn’t happy as each time he pressed the buttons the metal turned slower.
‘You knew this would happen,” he reminded himself. The machine was old. It was happy to work every once in a while but repeated use tended to make it cranky, heating up the gears and making it run more slowly. He timed it though.
Again he did so repeatedly. He knew five was the maximum he could use in one sitting before he had to give it a rest. He knew if it didn’t rest then the items could get stuck and he would be screwed. He timed it though, just for this reason. He pressed the preset timer on his watch and let it run. While he waited, he extracted the five items he purchased. He put each of them in his backpack. He took his time with the steps, knowing that if he rushed he would get antsy waiting for the timer to go off.
James zipped the bag closed and looked around. There could be no trace of his presence here when he left. No one could know he was here or there would be the devil to pay. He was wearing gloves so there were no fingerprints. He had a cap over his head so he wouldn’t leave any hairs behind.
He doubted those who would come looking would be that clinical, but he knew they would not be happy and might use any avenue they could to find out who tricked them. He decided the best way to deal with things was to treat it as though they had every available forensic tool at their disposal.
The cameras weren’t a problem. He made certain that every one in this block glitched on an intermittent schedule. All of his practices and timings were done during the glitches so no one would have ever seen him visit. He made sure to arrive when the place was abandoned and the street empty. He took side routes instead of main streets, using rooftops in many cases. He was careful.
He hoped it was enough.
His alarm beeped and he went back to the machine. Carefully he began loading coins in. The sixth item fell with no problem, the machine having cooled down. He loaded the coins and retrieved the seventh item. Now, came the big one.
His hands were shaking slightly as he loaded the coins in. They rattled as he pressed them into the slot. Still they went in and he pressed the final buttons. The eighth item in the row fell from the metal spiral holding it in place. It clunked harder in the bottom of the machine, heavier than the other items.
He took all of the items, including the one he sought from the machine and put them in his bag. He slung the back pack onto his back and looked at his watch. It was time to go. He needed to be away before anyone headed in this direction. He moved to the back exit.
Ten til Midnight 