Race Against Time

Ten minutes.

The minute hand moved like oil, passing the big numbers, swallowing time along with it.

Nine minutes.

 Tick. Tick. Tick. I could hear the watch and this ticking,which I was oblivious of before, made my mind numb. Sooner or later my head was going to explode, but there was no time for such worthless worries; there was more important work to do.

Eight minutes.

Moving as fast as I could, I did my best to keep focused as my eyes started to go blind because of all the sweat which was surprising since I do not sweat often. All this time, I have been waiting for this moment and now I could not let it all go to waste.

It was seven in the morning when I stepped inside the big room, the office as it was known, all covered in crimson paint with red draping. It was classic and gave the feeling of self importance.

At the far end was a huge desk, not your average everyday desk, but a very unique one; made with the most expensive timber available, thickly engraved with complicated designs.

Unfortunately this was no place to spend time in and relax, in fact, a very few people were allowed in here. I stood firm as if a single move could set an alarm, although, no such thing was going to happen; Not when I was called to the office.

The screen of the LCD flickered to life at exactly half past seven and on it, I could see a man; a very fat man. His shoulders were huge and wide; starting from one end of the screen to the other, his face chubby and round. This man was my boss.

“I believe you are ready to take on another mission ,agent A.” His eyes were like grey pebbles fixed in the hollow spaces of his face. You could see how boring this man was. But, then he had to be boring since work was all he ever did all the time, apart from that no one knew about his personal life which was not so surprising.

“Yes,” I hesitated a little but this was my final chance to prove myself; my job was contingent on this mission, there was no other choice-there never is!

A hole in the wall appeared as its cover slide open and in it was a CD. Every mission was assigned like this. It really was a silly way to assign a mission, but who was I to point out something so obvious.Also we were never told every detail like why we were doing this, what we were supposed to do, we just had to do it.This was rule number one.

Seven minutes.

Perspiration ran down my forehead as I tried to push my way through the shaft. With every step I felt the hot shaft get hotter. I convinced myself to move on, despite the fact, that all my instincts told me to get out of there; I could hear the voice inside my head.

'You stupid girl get out of here!'

Six minutes.

Moving on my burnt palms, I started to think if this was a good idea. It was impossible to get there in time. Just when I was about to give up, it appeared.

Five minutes.

Only an idiot would think of an opening as a sight for sore eyes, but only a normal person think like this and I am definitely not an average normal girl. I reached it; pushing myself out by using the new strength I gained as soon as I saw the opening. Keeping myself steady, I jumped out. My eyes went blind for a second as I entered the room flooded with light and tripped over a box.

Four minutes.

As my vision cleared I realized how complicated it had become. There was not just one box, but hundreds of them stacked over each other like a pile of thick books. How on earth was I going to find out the one with the bomb in it?

Three minutes.

My mind started hunting through my memory for something very useful, something that could be of assistance at the moment...

“Metal detector. That’s it!” 

I shifted my arm making sure that my watch faced the boxes. Finally a red dot appeared on the tiny screen of my inbuilt metal detector (these things come in handy sometimes and in my case a lot.)

Two minutes.

Kicking the brown cardboard boxes out of my way, I reached the bomb box.

“Great!” On the box was a big rough x drawn in red ink. I could feel it laughing at me, telling me what a big a fool I was. Quickly, I opened it and threw the lid away; as soon as I set my eyes on the metal ball, I started working. The timer ticked, increasing the already built pressure on me.

One minute.

I cut the last wire, fixing it to another wire. Nothing happened but why? I did everything correctly. My head hurt and my eyes burnt. There was very less oxygen left in this concrete box full of boxes. Getting out of there in time was like taming a wild lion for me now.

I gave up.

 What was I expecting anyway, defusing a bomb in ten minutes was impossible! Who did I think I was to do such a difficult task, anyway? I was just a sitting duck waiting for death to hunt me down.

Two seconds.

Sometimes luck turns on your side when you know it never will. Maybe it feels pitiful for you and cannot see you struggle anymore.

It happened. The timer stopped like it was petrified, iced up, frozen like an angel statue.

“Whew” I was happier than a bird with a french fry.

 As I sat there with my legs crossed, funny feelings came over me and guess what?

I started to laugh.

Mission accomplished.