MMC (July 20, 2015)

I'm back again with Monday's Minutes. I am using all three prompts this week. It's 298 words.

Avery gripped the ladder rung and spat out the sawdust that had settled on his tongue. Perhaps he had been too hasty in his climb to the attic. As a result of his impatience, he had lost his balance, which had in turn made the ladder tip back and caused it to send down a shower of dust when it had hit the ledge again. Now Avery turned around to get a better look and immediately wished he hadn't. He was up so high, and it was a rather rickety ladder... Eager to have it over with, he resumed his ascent, making a mental note to ask his uncle to build a set of stairs in the ladder's place.

The boy was always amazed that there seemed to be something new to take interest in every time he visited the room. This time, it was a worn-looking suitcase in the far corner; he could have sworn it had not been there two weeks ago. He fumbled with the clasps for a minute, as it was not easy to see in the dim light. He gasped when it fell open rather quickly and its contents scattered across the floor. Chiding himself for his clumsiness, he scooped up a few of the fallen photographs and crossed to the window in order to examine them better. He uttered a cry of surprise when he saw whom they featured. He did not remember his little cousin looking this old. Wanting to be sure she was whom he assumed, he turned one over and read the writing on the back:

'Margaret Johnson, 1964, four and a half years old'

"That's a mistake," he thought. Because the last time anyone had seen her, she was three years old. And she'd been missing for two years.



auf wiedersehen, darling

- Maddie