PROMPT : CLEVER
“I’d say she won, Sean,” Marcus peered over his older brother’s shoulder, ignoring the scowl it prompted. What was the fun of being taller than his oldest brother if he couldn’t lord it over him every once in a while?
“Only you would say she won,” Sean grumbled. “Come to the abandoned mansion on Beling Lane. Remind me how we got stuck in here in the first place?”
“The door was open,” Marcus said, innocently. “I thought I heard someone crying.”
“It’s an abandoned house! There’s nothing that could possibly be crying. If you heard something—and that’s a big if—what makes you think it was human?”
Marcus stifled a laugh. In the reflective glass of the spotty china cabinet door, he’d caught Diana’s reflection She’d followed them on in, checking for herself, just how this dare had turned out.
He flashed her a grin, then fished out his pocket flashlight from his left jeans pocket and dangled it over Sean’s shoulder. “Here you go, ‘friady cat.”
Diana covered her mouth with both hands, mirth dancing in her eyes as she waved goodbye and tiptoed back outside of the creaky old house.
Marcus bit back another laugh when Sean snatched the flashlight from his hand and stomped on ahead, still muttering and grumbling. The front door had slammed shut behind him, but Marcus was willing to bet that Diana had locked it just long enough for them to be ‘locked in’, before unlocking it herself.
Then again, she’d been right when she took the dare. Sean had entered the house of his own free will—and Marcus would owe her a copy of the new mystery novel due out that weekend. He’d been saving his allowance for almost a month for that new video game—but she’d won this one fair and square.
Whatever Sean might say about her, Marcus wouldn’t pay him any attention. She’d been clever all along.
(c) Sara Harricharan