Scavenger Hunt

the voices were getting more and more insistent. arvis had been sitting in the high-backed chair at the end of the hall and watching his hands to their funny little dance for two hours. he wasn't willing them to wring each other with the intensity of two lovers at play, nor was he unamused at their spontaneity--who was he to have a say in the matter anyway? he had read a story somewhere about a man's hands deciding they were being oppressed and killing their owner by severing themselves form his body while their owner slept in an effort to escape. that wouldn't be arvis; oh no no no, his little friends could do anything they pleased. anyway, he needed them for his work. he had a good occupation. he didn't like to call it his "job"--that made it sound too much like he would rather be doing something else--he preferred "occupation" because of the fact that it really did occupy all of his time and attention. there was not a waking moment in his day that he was not receiving instructions, so he just moved from work-site to work-site, following the instructions he was given.

today was a special day though. that must be why his hands were playing their nervous little game. he had never had to wait this long before going to work, but every time he had gotten up to leave, his hands would not let go of the arms of the comfortable chair and the voices had shouted at him. He didn't like to be shouted at, so he sat and waited.

a small rather good-looking woman came bustling out of a door halfway down the hall. arvis stilled his hands with a simple whispered request and they were happy to oblige. he hoped she wasn't his work for the day. she had a very nice face with very nice eyes and when she stopped at the elevator, not five feet from arvis' chair, she smiled at him. she had a very nice smile as well.

"Excuse me, miss," said arvis pleasantly, "do you have the time? I have been waiting a while, you see, and i seem to have left my watch at home."

"Oh, of course," she was still smiling as she rearranged her load to free her left hand enough to see her watch. a single piece of paper fell towards the ground at arvis' feet. still looking at the woman, arvis' hand leapt from the arm of the chair and plucked the paper out of the air like it was not moving. arvis realized what it had done with a start, but as he handed the page back to the nice lady, she didn't seem to notice it hadn't hit the ground.

"Thank you," she was still smiling as her left hand accepted the paper and turned itself over. "It's a quarter after ten...i hope you won't have to wait much longer."

"Thank you so much, young lady. I'm sure it won't be much longer." as he said this, the elevator made it's pinging noise and the door slid open smoothly, "Have a good day."

"You too." she was still smiling as she got into the elevator. arvis leaned back in his chair to continue his wait, allowing his hands to continue their little game.

after a few moments, there was a sudden snapping sound within the walls, followed by the sound of sliding steel on steel. there was an ear-splitting crash as the elevator hit the bottom floor with the weight of twenty stories of free-fall behind it. the compression of air and shattering metal jarred the doors apart next to arvis, and he stood immediately up. prying the doors a bit farther apart just enough to slip through, arvis made his way into the crumpled compartment.

"Damn" he said in a quiet voice. there were three broken bodies within the elevator car...one was the woman who had given him the time.

his hands were already crawling over the bodies searching for valuables and the like, while arvis lamented the fact that the young woman actually was a part of his business today. she had such a nice smile...oh well, a job was a job. he heard a shout in his head as his right hand started tugging at something. arvis tore his eyes away from the form of the girl to see what his hand was on about. one of the two gentlemen in the elevator was carrying a briefcase. when the case popped open, a bundle of large bills fell out of it. "Pay-dirt," mumbled arvis as he registered three more bundles as thick as his fist. he transported the cash from the case into his pockets, closed it and, immediately, the voices fell silent.

he squeezed back out through the doors of the broken elevator and brusquely walked down the hall and out of the building. he began whistling a tuneless tune to the backdrop of sirens as he walked down the street towards his flat. his left hand was toying with something in his pocket. when he withdrew it, he saw the nice woman's watch. he gave his hand a disapproving look and put it back in his pocket.

-end