WC: 1,184
Prompt: Three people from the same office thrown together under canvas for one night. It's raining. There's no booze. There's only two sleeping bags.
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"It's crucial that this piece doesn't get wet. I supplied you with a second tent to cover it with just in case it started raining." The thunder in the distance seemed to punctuate Naru's statement.
"Yes, the tent is in my car," John said, as he helped Monk set up the three-man tent.
"It'll be just like camping," Yasu said, grinning from ear to ear.
"This isn't a vacation, kid, it's work," Monk said, as he secured the pole in the tent. "Finished."
"On an off note," Naru said, "Stay out of the cabin at all costs. We could be dealing with a potentially harmful spirit." He started back to the white van, where Lin was waiting to take them both back to the hotel.
And thus the two drove off. Leaving the three in the dense woods with the cozy little two room cabin that they couldn't enter unless they wanted to be killed.
But someone had to stay and take care of the lone microphone as it picked up whatever ghostly noises it could.
Of course the girls hadn't been considered when the mission came to light. And Lin and Naru hadn't seemed to even ponder it as an option that they would do it.
Originally it had just been John and Monk that would do the stake out, but Yasu had tagged aboard because it had sounded 'like fun'.
As dusk fell, the three stood at the house they couldn't enter, by the tent that was large enough to accommodate all three, which was close to the mic and its roomy electrical box.
"Well," Monk said, lacing his hands behind his head, "We better get that other tent set up before it gets too dark to see."
John tugged at the door to his car. "Uh," he grunted, pulling a bit harder.
Monk stared at John as he struggled with the door. "I'll pretend that doesn't mean what I think it means."
Yasu looked through the passenger window and spotted the keys in the ignition. "Yep, it means just that."
"Who was in the car last?" John asked. He eyed Monk.
"I've been setting up the tent for the passed twenty minutes. I haven't been anywhere near the car."
"Um," Yasu said, raising his hand. "It was me. I closed it when I took out Monk and my sleeping bags."
"That means my sleeping bag is still in the trunk…" John said.
"Along with the tent…" Yasu mumbled.
"And the cooler with dinner in it…" Monk finished.
A streak of lightning lit up the sky, which caused them all to jump.
"What are we going to do? The equipment is going to get wet," John said, holding out his hand to see if there were raindrops yet.
"Maybe if we call Naru he can call a locksmith…" Yasu said, "Or we can call the locksmith ourselves so no one knows what happened."
"My cell phone is in the car." John was leaning his forehead against the glass of the window in hopeless agony.
"I say we break the window," Monk said. He was already holding a thick branch and calculating where the best hit at the glass would be.
"Takigawa-san! Please don't!" John yelled, grappling at Monk's arm before it could do anything fatal.
Monk mumbled something and dropped the branch.
The wind started to make the trees rustle, picking up speed as the storm closed in on them.
"The equipment," John gasped.
"This is not going how I planned it," Monk said.
"Not really how I planned it either," Yasu said.
"This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't come with."
Before Yasu could respond, they heard the sound of rain starting to pitter-patter in the distance.
They all ran to save the microphone.
"So, we only have two sleeping bags, and we're sharing the tent with a microphone," Monk said, sitting cross-legged on the ground.
Even though it had taken twenty minutes to set up the tent, they had all moved it in a matter of five minutes to avoid Naru's wrath because they had fail to take care of the expensive microphone.
But now they were right up against the 'harmful' little log cabin. The only thing separating them was the sliding screen door.
"How is this going to work…?" Monk said, gesturing to the two rolled up bags.
"It won't be hard," Yasu said. "We spread out the first one then we lay the other one over us."
"So, we're all going to be sleeping together…" Monk said.
"Yeah. Like brothers." Yasu grinned.
"I wish I had some alcoholic substance to drink right now."
Outside, the rain started to come down even harder, if that was possible. Thunder and lightning repeatedly went off, making the whole tent light up.
"I wonder how the microphone is going to pick up anything above that," Monk said.
"I'm sure there's varying levels of vibrations that Lin can bring to the surface to listen to," Yasu said.
"Right…"
"I hope the tent doesn't blow away," John said. The other two went silent. The matter had not actually crossed their mind.
"Ah, we'll be okay," Yasu said, "This is a very heavy-duty tent. Sturdy, waterproof. Everything that we need right now."
Thwack!
They all looked up to the top of the tent, where the noise had originated.
Rip!
Then they all watched dumbstruck as a major leak started pouring through the tear, a tree branch poking into the hole.
Yasu and John jumped up to dry the equipment and Monk ran out to find something to catch the water with.
"Couldn't you have found something…smaller? Maybe a flowerpot, perhaps?" Yasu asked.
"If you don't like it, you go out in the rain and lightning and find something," Monk said, debating whether or not he should take off his wet jacket when he felt the cold starting to seep through.
"I know, it's just that…it's a little more crowded in here, now."
The microphone and its electrical box was now accompanied by the small washtub that Monk had somehow dragged in. They had turned the three-man tent into a one-man tent in less then forty-five minutes.
"I hope we can get a refund on this tent," John said, staring at the hole that was dripping freely into the washtub. The main part of the storm had passed, but the rain still poured down heedlessly.
The three sat in the little available room they had left. John sitting between Monk and Yasu.
"What did you say happened to the other sleeping bag?" Monk asked.
"Well, John and I were so busy protecting the microphone that we didn't realize that the bag had been under the leak. And it was mine, too…"
"Not that it matters, now. There isn't enough room to even sleep." Monk raised an eyebrow at John. "Are you still sure about not breaking into your car?"
"Uh, yeah. I'm still sure. Sorry."
They were quiet for a little while, watching the drops fall into the washtub.
"I hope nothing else happens," Yasu said, "Because then I'll have to sit in your lap, Monk."
"If you try to do something like that you are going to be sleeping outside…"