Morning all. I hope your week is just sliding along beautifully. Hard to believe we are almost at the mid point of August. Kids are back in school but calling this fall is just laughable. Watch out for today’s heat index if you are anywhere near me. It is going to be a scorcher. Before we broil away, lets see what story we can come up woth for our morning prompt. Timers set for fifteen and let’s jump in.
Oh, I think someone is going to claim credit for her work.
Thursday, August 13th: A lot of work went into this moment.
A lot of work went into this moment. She stood back and took a breath. It was the moment before everything was set in motion. The moment before everyone arrived and enjoyed what she spent months creating. It was beautiful The food was all arranged, the music lined up, the table decorations just so. She took a deep breath.
Mentally she scrolled through anything she had forgotten. She couldn’t think of anything. Alise had to admit that she hadn’t wanted to plan the event, especially not by herself. She hadn’t actually agreed to that. She agreed to help. Her job was to line up the caterers. Then others kept opting out of their sections. They were too busy and so she was tasked with completing their section to help out. In the end everyone left her to it.
‘Still it is done now,’ Alise thought. Behind her she heard footsteps. She turned. Cynthia was approaching. A frown creased her brow.
“There is someone at the east gate demanding to talk to you right now,” she said. “It seemed pretty urgent.”
“Oh,” Alise said. She couldn’t think of any reason someone would need her, she dealt with all the venders already. Her mental list began to scroll.
“Don’t worry, nothing is going anywhere,” Cynthia told her.
Alise nodded and raced off to go see what the problem was. She left via the back door and took the side path around to the gate so any approaching visitors wouldn’t see her panicked run across the estate. She looked for a golf cart but of course, they were all gone.
“Why would there be a cart when I need it,” she muttered to herself. Despite the number of carts around there never seemed to be one available when she was in a rush. ‘It also had to be the east gate.’
It was the furthest from the house. ‘At least everyone is coming in the west gate,’ she thought. If thee was a problem it would be dealt with behind the scenes and not in front of the guests.
Alise reached the east gate. It was open and she went through. There was a car parked there and she walked over thinking it belonged to whoever wanted to speak with her. There was no one there.
‘Odd,’ she thought. Alise looked around. There was no one here angry or otherwise. She turned and left the parking lot, heading back to the gate. It was closed now. She walked over and found it locked. She grabbed the gate and shook. It didn’t move. She sighed and patted herself down.
No key card to wave at the electronic sensors. No phone to call up to the house to get them to unlock the gate. She would have to walk around to the west gate.
“Just perfect,” she thought. Still there was no hope for it. She walked to the pathway that would take her around the edge of the property and to the west gate. She could see the line of cars already arriving through the trees. It looked like everyone was on time. She walked and saw the last of the cars go through the gate. She saw the gate start to close.
“No,” she called. Alise put on speed but the distance was too great. The gate closed. She again gripped the bars when she reached it and shook the gate. It rattled but didn’t magically swing open. She went to the call box, grateful that at least this gate had one. She pressed the button. No one answered. She waited and then pressed it again. Still no answer.
“Right,” she said. There was a small pedestrian gate. If it was locked, she was still confident she could climb over. It was part of the gate and fencing that hadn’t been replaced yet. She would be a mess trekking through the woods but she could do it.
Ten til Midnight 