Morning all. I hope your week is going well. Mine is chugging along. Still a little behind because of my break, but slowly catching up with my schedule. Which is nice. For this morning we have our regularly scheduled prompt so if you are joining in, set those timers to fifteen minutes and off we go.
I rather think Dan may be the target as well as the detective in this story. That could be a fun take on a bit of a mystery.
Thursday, July 30th: It was not an accident.
It was not an accident. He stood on the roof and looked at the spot where the stone ornament stood for generations. He expected to see damage to the roof; rotted wood, broken tiles, some form or disaster simply waiting to happen. Instead what he was were chips of stone where the ornament had been chipped away and marks on the roof showing what he thought might be the marks of a crowbar.
He stood there, staring at the gouges longe than he liked to admit.
For a time the sight of them wouldn’t process. He clutched his tool box as the wind whipped around him.
Not an accident.
Deliberate.
The next question of course was why. Dan shook himself and decided that he would continue on his set task. He used his phone to photograph the marks where the roof decoration once stood. He then checked the surrounding area for rot or damage. There was none. Given the age of the house he found that a bit surprising.
‘But I guess we did have the roof done about five years back so it shouldn’t be surprising.’
He remembered the vast outlay repairing and replacing the roof cost. He remembered the complaints. He found them annoying at the time. His family was more than willing to spend on the fancy things, but the basics were always a hardship. A roof wasn’t sexy. It wasn’t admired by neighbors or coveted by peers.
He pointed out repeatedly that if the roof failed all the pretty things underneath it would be damaged and then they would be ridiculed not envied.
It was finally the thought of ridicule that convinced them. Even then they would only kick in minor amounts to repair broken bits. He decided to pay the cost of the rest and have the entire thing done at once instead of piecemeal. Getting it done cost a lot but he was unwilling to have the conversation every year for the next twenty.
He shook his head and went on with his inspection checking every section of the roof. He never told the others about the full roof repair. He also lowered the amount he was added to the family fund until he was paid back for the roof repair. He used the money he didn’t add to the family fund into the account he took the money for the roof repair from. He told the others, when they complained, that he was going through a rough patch. He finished repaying himself six months ago and then went back to his normal contributions and everyone congratulated him on his success.
None of them bothered to look at the details. His business was only important as far as it concerned them. It was an old disappointment and easily set aside for the more dominant issue of the day. As he checked the rest of the roof, he kept turning the same thought over.
Why would someone loosen and hurl one of the roof ornaments down.
Ten til Midnight 