Phil vs. Rope

Written for "Daily Flash Fiction Challenge" .

Just a little bit further... The steady release of line through the pulleys stopped and Phil jerked to a stop dangling twelve feet above the floor of the darkened museum. He checked his harness quickly but it was in working order. It was the equipment at the top that must have jammed and by now the sensors were working again. They weren't sensitive enough to detect rope but they were there precisely to detect a person crawling in and out of the duct work.


He gave the rope a jerk but that only set him to spinning. He found that he wasn't quite brave enough to release himself from the harness and drop twelve feet to the floor. He might manage it or he might break his ankle. So that was where the security guard found him on his first patrol of the day; twelve feet in the air and swinging gently back and forth in the breeze from the air conditioning unit.

The guard pulled his gun and Phil held up his hands with a wide smile.

“Good morning. I’m going to reach into my pocket for an ID ok?”

“All right, but do it slow,” the guard told him. He held the gun trained on Phil and called for backup with the other. Phil dropped him a small plastic card.

“I’m, Phillip Russell, your new security advisor. Your security isn’t quite up to specs but fortunately neither is my climbing equipment.”

243 words