AcmeShorts

As soon as he got home Danny ran to the back yard with his lips pursed in concentration. He didn’t stop to drop off any of his stuff at home or anything. He just jumped the old wood-board fence and ran into the forest without even stopping once.

He ran until he reached the clearing in the woods where the three oaks towered in the sky. At their base the trunks pressed together so closely that they formed a narrow, hidden shaft. It was Danny's favorite spot, his secret. And it was just big enough for him to crawl into.

Then, goddamn it what now, an electronic chirp from his goddamned suitcase. Cell phone. He looked at the caller ID. Jamison.

“Make me happy, Jamison, you fucking fuck.”

“Well, if you want a fucking job maybe you will.”

“Ha-Ha. That’s me laughing. If you think I’m kidding come in the office tomorrow morning without those documents vetted you ham-and-egger.”

“Oh yeah, and another thing.”

He flipped the phone closed and tossed it in to his expensive fucking suitcase. He took no satisfaction in imagining Jamison standing there, fashionably tiny phone pressed to his head, trembling, waiting for his next order. Instead, he pulled out his Swiss Army knife, fingernailed the blade open and began carving his initials in to the forbidden walls of Fort Danny.