Morning all. I hope your week is going well. Mine is chugging along nicely. A little off balance by the weather as the seasons flip flop around. I have pretty much realized my tulips are a lost cause this year. They came up and then got hit by a cold snap, then it was warm so they seemed to recover but this last cold snap might have done them in. Usually they bloom around Easter but I don’t think we will actually get any blooms at all this year. But I could be wrong. We shall see. For now however it is time for the morning writing prompt. So take a second to read the sentence and then set your timers for fifteen minutes and let’s see what comes out of the brain this morning.
That is not where I thought this sentence would go. I like it, but right up until I started writing, I thought it was going to be something else. I love when my brain surprises me.
Thursday, March 19th: You were never there.
“You were never there,” Carson said. “You hear me? No trace.”
“Got it,” Luke said. “I’m a ghost.”
Carson had his doubts but nodded anyway. He asked for a ghost and they sent Luke. Ghost was not the first thing that came to mind when he thought of Luke, but everyone else was adamant he could do the job. As Carson watched him go, his footsteps heavy thumps as he walked to the door, he hoped he was wrong.
They needed no one to notice the infiltration. No one to question things or suspect anything was taken or added to the scene. As Luke left, Carson gelt a bit of worry gnawing at his insides. He already made his case and stressed to Luke the need for absolute secrecy. He could do nothing more on that front.
‘Except come up with a plan B in case he gets noticed.’
Carson took a deep breath. He almost always had a plan b in place. He had one this time, but it too relied on not being noticed. It was for dealing with other variables. ‘So, I come up with a plan c,’ he told himself as he turned away from the door and moved to the stairs. He heard the echo of Luke’s footsteps in his mind. ‘Possibly a Plan D, E and F as well,’ he told himself.
He knew if he mentioned things now it would be seen as a sign of distrust. ‘And then if something did go wrong I would be blamed for rattling Luke before sending him out.’ He shook his head. He knew he would worry over it unless he came up with more back up plans and contingencies. Even if they were never used, making them would keep him calm while he waited for the inevitable fall out. More importantly it would keep him from harping to the others about his concerns.
The operation used to run smoothly. He still made his back up plans, but they were rarely used. “And when they were it was because something out of our control went sideways.” He told himself as he climbed the stairs back to his office. Lately that wasn’t the case.
Leadership changed. It was inevitable. Time passes and people retire or die off. New blood steps in. He had been around long enough that he had seen it before. He knew how to adapt to changes. This time it was different. Those in charge seemed to choose people for jobs based on their relationship with them rather than on individual skills. Darren, the man in charge of this operation, liked Luke. They were friends. So, Luke was chosen over someone else.
It had been the same for the last few jobs. Sometimes it worked well, other times it didn’t.
Not for the first time, Carson thought about leaving. This was the last element he was responsible for in this situation. If it went sideways, he would be expected to come up with a plan to fix it. As he crested the stairs and turned into his office, he thought that maybe instead of planning to fix things he would simply trust Darren’s opinion of Luke’s abilities and just disappear.
As he entered his office it sounded like a better plan than worrying over Luke. He realized as he sat down the decision calmed his gut. His worry disappeared. He nodded to himself. It was time for him to go. By the time Luke was finished, whether successful or not, he would have ghosted himself. As he sat and thought about it, he realized exactly how easy it would be.
“A benefit to working with people who don’t pay attention to details,” he thought.
Ten til Midnight 