"You have got to be kidding me." I turn around to face Tim. But Tim doesn't say anything.
"I don't know anything about cracking open a safe." Marcus struts over, putting his arm around me, turning me towards the safe.
"But that's okay," he begins, "Because you're really smart. I know you can figure it out."
We stand in front of it. The safe sits on the basement floor, nearly as tall as I am.
"Marcus... I don't know anything about cracking open safes." I repeat. But I can tell he's not listening.
"But look at this thing." He kicks it with the toe of his shoe. "It's ancient. It can't be as hard to open as today's modern safes. Besides..." He turns me to look directly at him. "Imagine what could be inside." His eyes sparkle, and his thoughts appear far away as his eyes don't quite meet mine. I look back at Tim. But he just shrugs his shoulders.
"It would be a game changer if valuables were inside," Tim says. I look back at Marcus.
"He's right! And whatever we find, we split three ways." I look back at the safe again and notice scuff marks up and down the sides.
"I see you've already tried to open it." Marcus looks away. "And why do you think I'll do a better job at getting it open?"
"We couldn't get it open by brute force." Tim chimes in.
"Yeah, but you were always the smartest kid at school when it came to math and geometry. That must count for something to get a relic like this open." Marcus finishes.
I take a deep breath, overwhelmed with the task of opening it. The image of a stethoscope comes to mind. Then an image of wads of cash peaks my interest. Whoever lived here is long gone, so there couldn't be any harm in taking what's been abandoned, right? If there was enough money, I wouldn't have to bother going to college, mounting up debt, or even needing to work the rest of my life.
"Okay, I'll do it." Marcus claps his hands together in excitement. "But I'm not making any promises." He doesn't appear to be listening anymore, and when I look back at Tim, neither does he.
"Great! When can you start?"
"Let me do some research and find out."
YOU ARE READING
The Safe
FantasyCracking open the abandoned safe wasn't the worst part for seventeen-year-old Robin and her two friends. It's the curse that came after.
