Reading the Dice

Story 8: Sara's Bad Day

Dice Roll: frowny face, eye, flashlight, magnifying glass, lightbulb, arrow wheel, L sign, scales, abacus

Sara awoke in a foul mood. She had a headache, her boss was a jerk, and her favorite author, whose books always gave her the escape she needed in tough times, had been killed in a freak accident.

She was halfway through her make-up routine, frowning at the mirror, when the lights all went out. She stomped out of the bathroom and, guided by the faint light coming in from the windows, went to the kitchen, where she pulled the flashlight out of the junk drawer.

Illuminating the way with her flashlight, she found the circuit breaker in the hallway. She flipped a bunch of switches. Nothing happened. Frowning, she walked to the elevators, grudgingly grateful that the landlord had included them on the emergency generators' power lines.

Sara punched the L button to go to the lower levels. The elevator slowly dropped her down through the floors until she was in the basement. The doors opened with a slight hiss and she stalked out, making a beeline for the wall of circuit breakers that controlled the entire building.

After flicking a bunch of switches, the lights flickered back to life. Nodding in satisfaction, she returned to the elevator and back to her floor, and her apartment.

Her alarm beeped at her, telling her it was time to leave for work. She scowled. The little electrical snafu had robbed her of her time to get ready and eat breakfast. And her boss didn't accept any reason for being late, except being dead.

Her stomach grumbled as she grabbed her bag and hurried out the door.

As she hurried down the sidewalk, she barely glanced at the other people also walking the sidewalks. She even didn't spare a glance for any of the regular landmarks along her route to work: the statue of Lady Justice, blindfolded and holding aloft her scales, outside the courthouse, the pony-sized dachshund statue standing guard beside the Hotdog House Café, the creepy juggling clown electronic statue outside the toy store, or even the spray-painted abacus on the wall of the building where a lot of accountants worked. Some juvenile had thought the graffiti was funny, and instead of the traditional round beads, had painted dicks and boobs on the wires of the abacus. The accountants within decided they liked the main idea, but could do without the genitalia, and had hired a graffiti artist to convert the body parts into round beads.

She hurried into the office building, and hurried down the hallway until she found her boss's office.

A giant eye and magnifying glass were painted onto the glass window of the door, and the nameplate declared him Detective Sonny McDaniels, Private Eye.

Sara pushed open the door and hurried inside. She dropped her bag onto her chair as her boss put down his phone.

"Almost late, today, Sara," Sonny griped, glancing pointedly at his watch.

"Yeah, sorry, almost late," Sara repeated. Which is still on time! She glanced at her empty "to do" box. "No assignments for me yet today?"

"We don't have any cases yet today, dollface, so I've decided we shall conduct a field exercise instead."

Oh, joy. Sara looked over at her boss and waited.

"As you know, we pride ourselves on our attention to detail." Sonny took a piece of paper and some items from his desk drawer and walked over to Sara's desk. "So today we're testing those observation skills. Take this sheet of directions. You're familiar with geocaching, right?" After Sara nodded, he continued, "Good. There are several geocache "treasure hunts" in this city, so you and I will each take a different one. When you find each location, take a selfie with the cache and send it to me."

Sara nodded and took the sheet of paper. "Sounds fine."

"Here, also, is your gps unit and compass." He handed her the other items he'd pulled out of his desk. "And, to make this more interesting, let's make it a race. Whoever finds the final cache of their treasure hunt first wins."

Sara shrugged; "Okay." This seems too simple. What's the catch? "Is there a prize for the winner?"

Sonny grinned, "I'm glad you asked, dollface. Yes. The winner gets a free dinner at the location of their choosing... Loser buys." He smirked. "I hope you brought your purse today and your credit is good. I have a craving for a tenderloin from Doc Samson's Charhouse."

Of course. Only the most expensive restaurant in the city. Sara looked over at her boss. "May I have time to go back to my place and change my shoes? I didn't wear hiking boots today."

"If you want to take the time to go change your shoes, go ahead. It may end up costing you your head start, though." He waved a hand at her, shooing her towards the door. "Get moving. I'm feeling generous, so I'll give you a ten minute head start."

You assume you're going to win, Sara thought, scowling, as she grabbed her bag and walked out the door. She looked at the paper with the instructions and the first set of coordinates. The City Stumble Geocache Hunt. She smiled. I can win this one; my friends and I built this hunt! He already failed his 'observation skills' test, since he didn't see my name in the credit line. And I know exactly where I want to go for dinner, too.

She smiled as she stepped out onto the sidewalk and made her way toward the Hotdog House Café. I'll demand dinner at home and force you to buy me my groceries, she plotted. Then I'll send you away and I can have a lovely dinner alone, on your dime. Her smile broadened. Today wasn't going to be so bad afterall.