plans – Christy Grace Scarlet Pen

ANIMAL CRUELTY

“Highjacking a plane? Isn’t that a little extreme?” Samantha asked, crossing her arms.
Andrew rolled his eyes, “We need to get the attention of the Mayor, and all those other government stooges.” He stepped away from the airport blueprints and picked up his lunch. The mayonnaise was dripping down his hand, but he ignored it as he checked their camera set up. This hadn’t been Sam’s idea. She had wanted a more subtle approach, but Andrew always went for the big ideas.

“Maybe we should just rob a bank,” She said. Andrew spun, scowling at her.
“What kind of message would that send? We’re not fighting the economic crisis, we’re standing against the animal cruelty of this state. That plane is carrying animals across the state border for testing.” Andrew turned and shoved the last of his sandwich in his mouth, bending to fix a light.
“But blowing up a plane would mean mayhem. Not to mention all those innocent animals on board.”
Andrew groaned, then looked back at her, his eyes softer this time, “Sam, this will send a message and save the future animals, which are destined to be tortured and killed anyway. It’s for the greater good.” He nodded and sat on the chair which was facing the camera. Samantha sighed and moved into her position as camera operator, pushing the record button.

Andrew sat straighter and cleated his throat, “To my dismay, the mayor has done nothing about the cruel treatment of animals in this state. Despite our protests and warnings, he has still not stepped in-”
A loud explosion shook the ground and Samantha ducked down, looking up for falling debris. Distant sirens started getting closer and Andrew ran to the window, his eyes growing wide. As Samantha peered out, she saw a large cloud of smoke above a blazing fire, in the building down the street.

“Is that the cosmetic lab?” She asked, her ears still blocked from the noise. Andrew scrunched his nose and frowned.
“Someone beat us, they took out the laboratory,” He said, his voice still muffled. He started pacing and Sam exhaled, relief setting in.
“It’s a Sunday, so nobody would have been in there,”She said, sitting on the couch in the corner, smiling.
Andrew rolled his eyes and clicked off the camera. “Yup. Guess we don’t need this anymore,” He spun and walked away, leaving his plans where they were, as the sounds of sirens grew closer.

Thanks for reading this Furious Fiction from May 2019 by Christy Grace

The Plans (Furious Fiction)

FURIOUS FICTION

Monthly short story fix? I’ve got you covered. This one was three sentences which had to be used anywhere:

The door was locked.
It felt familiar.
She laughed
Enjoy!

THE PLANS

It felt familiar. The lock pick tools in her hands.

She heard the tumbler click into place and smiled. Slowly she pushed the door open and tiptoed inside. She shut the door and used the moonlight to make her way into the study.

The plans should be in the desk that sat in the corner. She closed the door to the study behind her and opened the bottom drawer, pulling out its contents. A scratching noise to her left gave her pause and she looked to the window. The wind pushed a branch back and forth against the glass and she let out a breath.

She placed the contents onto the desk and felt around inside the empty drawer. She located the notch and clicked it. The false bottom popped out. Smiling, she pulled at it and squinted to see inside. A small white piece of paper sat in the middle of the drawer and she picked it up.
Pulling it closer to her face, she angled it towards the light and read.
She laughed. Two words were printed from an old typewriter in the middle of the paper.
‘Nice Try’.
She needed those plans.

Reaching into her pocket she pulled out her phone and clicked the home button. The light momentarily blinded her and she fumbled to turn down the brightness. As she pulled up the encrypted email with her instructions, she heard the front door open. Voices filled the house and she quickly put her phone into her pocket, looking around the room.

She smiled when she saw the bookcase on the wall to her right. It couldn’t be that easy, could it? Her heart was beating faster as she moved to the bookcase and pulled books out at random. Light entered the study through the edges of the door, the voices sounding dangerously close. Finally she pulled on a book titled ‘The Secret Room’. The bookcase jutted forward and she rolled her eyes. A little on the nose in her opinion.
Reaching behind the gap she pulled the heavy door open and slipped inside a small room. As she closed the door behind her, lights flickered on and she turned. Her mouth dropped open as she saw monitors with video footage from the house streaming live.

She watched as Andrew and Cynthia entered the study, flicking on the light. When Andrew saw the drawer open and the contents on top of the desk he shouted to Cynthia. They rushed out of the study and into the living room. Cynthia picked up a landline and Andrew began checking room after room.
She had to get out. To her left was a safe partially open and a wooden door.
She reached for the door then paused.

The plans.

Cautiously she opened the safe and smiled as she spotted the plans on the top of a document pile. She picked them up and reached for the doorknob again, cursing under her breath.

The door was locked.

Thanks for Reading this Furious Fiction by Christy Grace