Finally managed to write another story for the  Thursday_Prompt this week, the word this week being halt. Thank you to all who decide to read this, and I hope you enjoy it. Feedback is appreciated.




Running Out of Time

“Come on! Come on!”

Miriam kept checking her watch as she raced through the high school. The cocker spaniel knew she shouldn’t have spent so much time talking with Jenna at lunch, but they always had so much to talk about, and it was fun hanging out with her. Now, she only had about ten minutes to make it to her English class, which was on the other side of campus! She knew her English teacher would eat her alive if she was late, and she couldn’t afford to get detention, especially when they had an in-class essay to do today that was worth a decent chunk of her grade. Her paws were hitting the pavement at breaking speed, and the sound of fluttering papers from her bookbag caused her to glance back every so often to make sure she wasn’t losing any important papers. She could even smell and feel the sweat dripping through her fur, despite the slight breeze that day. As the English building approached, she felt she was gonna make it, and began to sigh in relief.

“Halt!”

The sudden voice caused Miriam to pause, and when she turned in the voice’s direction, it was to find hall monitor Jackson coming towards her. She let out a loud sigh at the interruption. Jackson was a field mouse who had managed to convince the school to give him the job of hall monitor, which he worked during his free period. The senior took his job seriously and would watch everyone who passed him like a hawk. Despite his small stature, he carried himself with an air of authority that made most people tremble and fear him whenever he busted them for something. His white fur was pristine looking and she always thought he smelled like he’d been inside a perfume store. Despite his appearance and demeanor though, she had built up a sort of friendship with him and they often hung out together after school. She was hoping that that friendship would help her out today.

“Yes, Jackson?” She knew the best course of action right now was to let him talk and hope that it was something short so that she could still make it to class.

“You do realize running is against the school’s policy right?”

“Yes.”

“Yet I just caught you running across campus.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I just need to make it to class on time and I was running late.”

She made sure to look down at the ground and flop her ears down so that she looked as guilt-ridden as she could in hopes he would just let her go about her business.

He looked at her and then crossed his arms; his claws drumming on his arm. “See, here’s the thing. I’ve been far too lenient when it comes to this kind of behavior. Before I would’ve let you off with a warning, yet I see you and countless other students continuing to run around campus like we’re at a playground. I know that we’re friends, but I can’t just let this go by anymore. I have rules I need to uphold if I don’t want to get in trouble myself.”

“You can’t be serious! Come on Jackson, we’re friends! You can’t be telling me you’d rat out your own friend like that!?”

But the look in his eyes told her he was. “I’m sorry. I know we’re friends, but I can’t let that affect my job performance. I’m gonna have to take you to see the principal so she can determine what your punishment should be.”

She couldn’t believe Jackson of all people was going to punish her for something as minor as this! She checked her watch. She had only five minutes to get to class before the teacher would mark her as late and send her to detention. She needed to get Jackson off her back ASAP! As she thought about what she could do, her ears detected a faint pant coming from him as he stood there and waited for her to respond. This gave her an idea and she looked at him with as much innocence as she could muster.

“You seem out of breath.”

He eyed her with suspicion. “Uh..yeah. I guess I am.”

“And why is that?”

“I mean, I had to chase you across campus. You weren’t exactly going at a snail’s pace.”

Perfect! She got the opening she needed. “So what you’re saying...is that you ran across campus? The same thing that you’re busting me for?”

It took a second, but Jackson soon realized what the weight behind her words and his expression turned to one of shock as he tried to defend himself.

“Well...I suppose I did. But...only because I needed to catch up with you!”

“Suuuuure,” she said, a smirk appearing on her muzzle. “You know, I wonder what the principal would say when she learns that her star hall monitor was breaking the rules he was supposed to be enforcing?”

His whole posture stiffened at her words. “You wouldn’t dare.”

She smiled at him and positioned herself so she was standing in front of him. “If I go down, I’m making sure to take you with me.” With this ultimatum, she crossed her arms and set a determined look on her face. For a couple of seconds, the only thing that moved was their fur as the breeze ran through it.

Then, Jackson released a sigh before backing up a couple of steps and holding his paws up in surrender. “Alright, fine. You win. I’ll let you off with a warning this time, and you won’t say a word about what I did. Deal?”

Satisfied with the outcome of the talk, Miriam nodded, “Yep. Pleasure doing business with you, good sir.”

Rolling his eyes and shaking his head, he started to turn around, but paused and said over his shoulder, “You know, I’ll give you props for that, but don’t think you’re gonna get away with that again. Keep yourself under the speed limit okay?” Then, with a smirk and a flick of his tail, he went back to making his rounds.

Laughing to herself at what just happened, she waited until he was out of sight before turning back to the building and opening the large metal doors. She looked at her watch and, realizing that she only had a minute to get to class, began picking up the pace and running towards her class, determined to make it on time.