THE TOWERS FAMILY SAGA
        Episode 68
The dawn light was gray and
thick with the dust of the
desert floor.
Robert stood at the small
wooden table, holding the
canister Dave had delivered.
It was a heavy steel tube,
corroded by the Arizona
salt and the long years.
"This is the one," Dave
said, his voice gravelly.
"The serial number matches
the project from 1999."
Minnie walked over and
touched the cold metal.
"The Y2K backup?" she
asked, her voice trembling.
Robert nodded, his eyes
fixed on the rusted seal.
"The one they said was
lost in the server fire."
"It holds the keys to the
old offshore accounts."
Virginia came in, her
surgical scrubs stained
with the night's work.
"If that gets out, the
lawyers will swarm us."
"They’ll think we were
hiding it all along."
Dorothy and Shirley sat
in the quiet shadows.
They knew the weight of
the steel on the table.
It was the ghost of their
old life, back to haunt.
"We don't open it,"
Robert said, looking up.
"We don't look at the
numbers or the codes."
"We are going to melt it
down in the valley."
Just then, a black sedan
crept past the window.
The man in the suit was
watching the small condo.
He was waiting for the
titan to break his word.
Robert gripped the tube
with his steady hands.
"I am not that man,"
he whispered to the room.
"I am a father and I
am a man of the truth."
He grabbed his keys and
the heavy steel canister.
"Barbara, call the plant."
"Tell them we have a
delivery for the forge."
The family stood in a
line by the front door.
They were guarding the
exit from the past.
Minnie kissed Robert's
cheek in the dim light.
"Go finish it," she
said with a firm smile.
The Towers were no longer
slaves to the old greed.
They were free men and
women in the desert air.
The saga was a path
to a clean, cold fire.
Robert drove away into
the rising orange sun.
The past was melting.
The future was solid.
The line was held.

  My books and screenplays:
 www.boomlakeproductions.com
    Turquoise Software
    solartoys@yahoo.com