Disclaimer: the characters of the Stephanie Plum series belong to Janet Evanovich and are used here without permission. No copyright infringement is intended.
Challenge: Jules’ Stormy Challenge – “It was a dark and stormy night”.
Notes: This fic uses Rena’s “Good Enough” version of Hal and references Deb’s (windsweptfarms) descriptive writing story (see the Week 14 folder – Rena’s Bored challenge).
Feedback: Email TT
A Frustrated Whimper Echoed In The Room
By TT
Turning away from the rain-spattered window, Ranger headed toward his desk. Five days of solid gray skies and intermittent rain was beginning to wear on him. The only good side of the rain was that it made staying in the office more tempting. Staying in the office meant a chance to catch up on paperwork.
Ranger leaned back in his office chair. He hated doing paperwork, but as the owner of Rangeman, there was more than enough for him to do. It was important for him to be aware of everything that was going on in his company, especially here in Trenton.
The other offices were important too, but he just didn’t have enough time to review all of the day-to-day happenings in all the offices. Since he was in Trenton, he was more involved. When he went to the other offices, he became involved in reviewing their day-to-day events, daily reports, etc.
The final thing he had to do tonight before heading upstairs was review the surveillance reports. Normally, these were fairly straightforward retellings of the events observed. In general, they were short, precise and almost as boring as doing the surveillance.
Of course, then there was Hal.
Ranger was a man who respected intelligence and Hal had that in abundance. In fact he had almost as much intelligence as he had four-syllable words. It could be a little frustrating to read Hal’s reports, but his facility with the English language also meant his reports were very specific and very accurate, even if the reader did need to make sure a dictionary – and an unabridged one at that – was on-hand. It was just one of the reasons Ranger was now the proud owner of The Oxford English Dictionary – unabridged. Thank God for computer versions since the paper version was several huge books with very small print.
Despite the vocabulary lessons that Hal seemed intent on slipping into everyday conversation as well as his reports, the man always had exactly the right word. It was actually almost stunning how precise the English language could be.
Being partnered off and on with Stephanie, Hal had eventually convinced her to take a creative writing course, assuring her it would only help with her reports.
A smile curved his lips as Ranger recalled one particular descriptive writing exercise.
Reaching for the first report, he read the first line. “It was a dark and stormy night.”
With a shake of his head, he set aside that report and picked up the next, skimming the first line. “It was a dark and stormy night.”
His teeth clenched, he set that aside as well and reached for the next report. “It was a dark and stormy night.”
A frustrated whimper echoed in the room as he quickly glanced through the remaining reports. Almost every single one started the same way. What had happened to his men? What had happened to the military wording and format of the reports? Was it really so wrong to use short, declarative sentences in surveillance reports?
Placing his elbows on the table, he rested his head in his hands.
There really was only one thing to do about this.
He was going to have to kill Hal… on a dark and stormy night…
End.