Dare

Once it came down to my dare, I knew it was going to be big, and I had to execute it perfectly, I checked my mailbox, that's where the official dare would be. I raced out my front door, past the driveway and to the little mailbox by the trees. I opened the little door and found the letter sitting there, the fancy envelope with a fancy crest we designed on the red wax seal. I opened it to find the older looking piece of parchment paper, with the cursive writing I loved to look at. These letters were half the fun of the game. I unfolded the page, read my dare and saw a little sim card. That would be from the last dare. “Rob the bank.” My eyes scanned over the rest of the page, reminding me of the rules and loopholes I couldn’t use. 

I plugged the sim card into my laptop to find proof of the last dare being done, not that I needed it, I was there, plus it was all over the news, but it was given anyways, as per the rules of the game. I saw pictures of the graffiti done down the next city over. It was all about saving the earth, about the plastic straws and the turtles. It caused a lot of commotion, even though it was a PSA.  

After thinking about it for a while, I figured the easiest way to do it was to cause a Power outage. The power system for the city was close to the bank, easy running distance, and it would take a few minutes for the emergency backup power system to kick in, and if the lights were out, it would be harder for me to be seen, therefore harder to get caught. I spent the day timing and planning it out. The backup generator takes ten minutes to kick in, it takes me two minutes to run to the bank, the doors will already be unlocked because the bank doesn’t close until ten pm. I'll head out as soon as it's dark, so around nine pm. I’ll slip in while everyone is evacuating the building, nobody will see me going the wrong way in the rush of getting out to safety. Since the power is out, no elevators will work, I’ll bolt for the stairs. I should have just enough time to slip into one of the vaults before my ten minutes are up. Getting out is my only problem now. Once the emergency power kicks in, the doors to all the vaults will be sealed again. I have to bring something along with me, something to stop the vault door from closing again. As soon as the power is on, the security cameras will be on again, and I'll have to go through the blind spots. I don’t have enough time to do anything to the cameras. 

Time ticked away as I tried to figure out how to get passed the cameras. I looked up the blueprints online, drew out my own little plan. If I wore a mask and baggy clothes it would really matter if I was seen on the camera for a couple seconds as I jumped from one blind spot to the other. I have an old brunette wig laying around from halloween a few years back. I would use that along with my all black outfit. 

It was 8:55 and we had just finished dinner and a movie, it was time for me to get started on my plan. I went to my room, and got dressed. Oversized black hoodie and matching sweats. I put the wig on and picked up my bag filled with instructions for the power source, and a little door stopper, then yelled out to my parents letting them know I was heading to a friend for a sleepover. It was always the cover we used while executing our dares. I walked over to the back entrance of city hall and went in keeping my head down, avoiding contact with any cameras. I slipped into the basement entrance and made a run for the power panel. One by one I shut off all the switches, leaving the city dark. I saw the screen popup with the emergency backup power timer and climbed up the sewer ladder so nobody would see me leave. I watched the people walking down the street panic as I lifted the sewer lid and made a run for the bank. 

Time was passing faster than I expected. I watched as people left the bank, and while I ducked and turned I made it through just before the huge doors shut. I looked around the empty bank, I’ve never seen it this empty, no workers, no people no lights. I almost forgot I didn’t have time to look around. I rushed down the stairs and into the first vault I could see. I unzipped my bag and dropped the door stopper. 

The power was back on and I was still rushing out of the stairs, just as I was going to open the door to the front when I realized nobody was entering the building, even though the lights were back on. I waited behind the door, I shouldn’t be seen in the camera right now so I should be fine. I sat down on the stairs and waited until I could hear people start to pile in. I put the little bit of money I got from the vault into a small pouch, and then slipped out. I ran to the closest motel. The room was already paid for and when I looked over to the desk, and saw the special envelope, parchment, seal, and pen. I placed the pouch of money into the envelope and carefully wrote down the next dare, tailoring it to the person it was about to get mailed to.

“Do a dance atop the roof of city hall for all to see.” 

Signed, sealed, and delivered.