The Yellow Hibiscus

Tempest Under 1000 words

Chapter 52

Jan Strokley hurried to the security room and handed a card to the security guard. He read it, then gave her a set of keys and said, “The alarm will be turned off when you enter the room.”

Jan scurried down the hall, followed by yet another guard, who would accompany her into the room. She hastened her steps, wondering why after so many years they were allowing someone to see these books. Not even the Museum staff knew what they were about. Except for the cleaning lady, no one was allowed inside. It had twenty-four-hour security surveillance. This was Jan’s first time into the room, and her pulse quickened as she put the key in the lock. She would be one of the very few who even knew what the room looked like.

The guard stepped inside when Jan opened the door. As the first guard had said, the alarm was off. Jan turned on a light switch and approached the glass case in the middle of the room. The case was empty! Immediately she turned to the guard, “They are not here!”

The old woman led me through a secret passage through which we had entered, and out into the main part of the museum. I walked out the door avoiding the cameras.

“What!” the guard swiftly walked over to the case, while grabbing his walkie-talkie off his hip. “Carl…