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the lurker
He stalked down the hallway leading out of the Sim Lab, the words of his argument with Raines still fresh in his mind. It was never going to stop, this madness of the Centre. He glanced at his watch as he rounded the final corner before entering his office space, 9:07 am. Wonderful, this day was just beginning.
The plain brown paper package was sitting on his desk when he entered the room, and he stopped on a dime when he spotted it. He had not seen one like it in over 30 years, but he had not forgotten. And there was no question in his mind who had wrapped it. He thought he heard a scuffling sound from the air vent, but shook it off, chalking it up to air rattling in the aperture.
Slowly he approached his desk, studying the package upon it. The brown paper enfolded around the square box, was discolored from time, and the string that had been used to tie it, was almost rotted through with age. He stopped in front of his desk, and a small smile played across his lips as he touched the package.
He removed the yellowed card which was attached to the paper, and turned it over to read its words:
Sydney -
A remembrance of our
family, and a token of my love
on our 30th birthday.
- Jacob
His eyes misted up momentarily, as he thought of his brother. He wondered where the package could have been for the past 30 years; buried somewhere in the bowels of Centre, he imagined. Someone must have found it, read the card, and left it here for him. Odd that it would be today, his birthday. Sydney shook his head: The one time Jacob had planned something, and he never had the chance to give it to his brother. It was an irony that brought a sorrowful smile to Syd’s lips.
Gently he pulled on the string, and it quickly came apart in his hands. The packaging fell away, and he reached for the small box, to open it. The tears he had held back filled his eyes as he saw the contents. After a moment, he reached in and pulled the framed photo out of the box, and held it, staring at it. A sweet smile tugged at his mouth, the emotion the picture evoked brought a mixture of sadness and love to his heart.
Still smiling, Sydney set the picture of his family on his desk. His father’s hand on his mother’s shoulder, and their twin sons in her lap. He could still remember the smell of his mother’s perfume the day the picture was taken. It smelled of rosemary and lavender, and even now, if he closed his eyes, he could swear he felt her presence nearby.
“Sydney........what are you doing? We’re late for our meeting with the director.”
Syd’s eyes snapped open to find Miss Parker standing in his doorway, glaring at him. He nodded acknowledgment in her direction, and she disappeared as quickly as she had come. He cleared away the wrappings from his desk, glanced once more at the smiling family in the photo, and walked to the door. The scuttle from the air vent caused him to turn and look once again.
A smile of understanding lit his face, and he whispered toward the vent, “Thank you, Angelo.”
Sydney left his office, and the empath in the air duct could still feel the warmth of his smile.
fin
