Elaine gets a job at a cutting-edge research facility, and she cannot wait to participate in their research to find a cure for cancer. But what if the lab is a façade for something completely different? Immersed in a world of deceit, will she be abl...
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That night, Elaine sat up before going to bed, trying to think up a plan. The funny thing is, it felt great. She felt like a little child again about to embark on a forbidden journey. But she had to focus and think. She knew she couldn't just walk up to the door and enter. There were many obstacles in the way. First, there was a security guard sitting there. Second, her ID does not open restricted doors. So, if somehow, she got past the security guard, she wouldn't be able to simply scan her way in. She also had no idea what might be on the other side of the door. For all she knew, there could be a series of doors, each requiring a different badge to open. For her to gain access, she would need the right badge and for the guard to somehow think she worked there.
The more she raked her mind for a plan, the more obstacles she came up against. Her giddiness at sitting and devising a scheme deflated like a hot air balloon. She realized that she was not a heroine in a Mission Impossible movie; she was a simple scientist with no knowledge of scheming. So, as painful as it was for her, she had to admit defeat.
Her days spread into weeks, and soon the remnants of fall turned into winter. It seemed that the bitter cold had put a freeze on all her thoughts of breaking into the impossible wing.
Elaine woke up that cold winter morning, dreading getting out from underneath the warm confines of her blankets. She stuck her toes out first and let the cold bite at them. She then slowly peeled off the rest of the covers, got up begrudgingly, and continued with her usual morning routine.
When she opened her apartment's door to leave for work, she almost had a heart attack. Elaine's next-door neighbor, Mike, was standing, getting ready to knock on the door with his arm raised in the air and towering over her.
Mike was a man in his late 50s or early 60s, and he could be best described as a Santa Claus impersonator. He was heavy-set and had a full beard that was mostly white with a few blonde streaks.
Elaine's reaction took Mike by surprise, so they were both left standing awkwardly facing each other. Mike eventually smiled and asked her where she was going in such a hurry. She looked surprised at his question and checked her watch; it read 7 am.
"Ummm...it's 7 am, and a Friday; I'm going to work, of course," Elaine responded quizzically.
He chuckled, "Welcome to Houston, darling. Due to the possibility of snow, everything is closed. My own pipes froze, and I was wondering if I could borrow some of your tap water; yours didn't freeze as well, did they?"
"No, they didn't. I left them dripping last night, but are you sure that the companies are all closed?"
"Check the news, sweetheart; everything in Houston is closed. I'm sure they are more worried about us driving on icy roads than anything else."
The man was right; just mention the word freeze or snow, and everybody starts to panic. Elaine had lived in Canada for two years when she was about fourteen, and she could remember perfectly what it was like having to shovel the driveways in the morning; now that was real snow. But she totally gets it; they were not prepared down in the South due to the infrequency of the matter.
