The Best Hiding Space

The Second of three short/flash fiction stories I did for a writer's workshop.

The Best Hiding Place

“I got you something.”  My roommate informed me one day while we were chilling.  He was a large, stocky, kind of guy, with a wild brown hairstyle and an even more untamed beard.  Ever since High School, he'd been a tricky sort to figure out; a mystery of puzzle pieces that never seemed to have the full puzzle.

“What?” I asked curiously.

“You’re not going to find out that easily. I know what a competitive guy you are so I want to make this interesting. I have hidden your gift in the best hiding place, one you will never find.  If you can find it; before that time, I’ll give you $50.  If not, you have to pay me $50.  You have two weeks from now, on your birthday.” 

I grinned.  Jack knew I couldn’t pass on a challenge especially one so easy to win as this.  I reached forward and slapped his hand.  “You’re on.”

Jack and I are great friends, but couldn’t be more different in personality, hygiene, work ethic, and many other things.   Jack is a lazy, slob of an oaf, whereas I'm the exact opposite.

Our differences are only matched by our similarities.  We both work for the same company, Television, Net, and More.  We both have been dating actively for a while.  We both enjoy not cooking. 

Another thing we have in common, that we both are complete movie geeks, spending countless nights on the couch arguing whether or not various movies are good or not.  We do this while watching our movies in Blu-ray, the best available format.

The most often debated movie is You Don’t Mess with the Zohan.  I hated that movie; Jack loves it.  I cherish good movies, so much so that, every time I get a new DVD or Blu-Ray movie; I go and add it to my neatly organized file.  Each movie is alphabetized, with year of production, genre, format, even its’ IMDB rating.  That way, if say our apartment catches fire, I have back-up and can easily show which movies I had.  Jack prefers to just chuck his DVDs in a pile in his room, or as I call it: the point of no return. 

There were only a few things I wanted for my birthday.    One, which I was planning on getting with my refund check, was a Special Edition of all six Star Wars films, on Blu-Ray, with extended and deleted scenes in a Death Star box.  Problem was that it ran over $200. 

I started looking for a gift in all the places I could think of.  I looked in closets, on shelves, behind the radiator, even in on our fridge.  Couch cushions got overturned and replaced with disgust.  Walls were touched in the hope of finding a secret passage.

I even, gulp, looked in Jack’s room.  In technicality I stood in the doorway and scanned the room hoping the smell wouldn’t make me pass out.  Time moved on closer and closer to my birthday.  I remember thinking that I was actually upset I couldn’t find it and was going to have to pay Jack, $50.   

As my birthday approached, despite looking at every possible location I could think of, I still hadn’t found something that really would be for me.  Finally the day of my birthday, Jack stopped me in the hall. “Tony, can I talk to you for a minute?” He asked.  His teeth had something green on them and were oak brown.  “I’m guessing you never found what I got you. Sit in your room and wait for a second. “ Eager to find out what I got, I obliged.  Jack came back in empty handed and I was a tad bit perplexed…initially.

He reached onto my DVD shelf and handed me one. At first I was too surprised that he just so calmly reached for a movie on my own shelf that I didn’t realize what he’d gotten me.  I almost dropped the DethStar when I realized what it was.

 “You got me. You got me good.” I finally stammered as a pathetic thank-you.

“I know.”  Jack answered with an off-handed reply.

“How did you know that I wouldn’t think to look on MY shelf?”  I practically cried-out now realizing that I was blind to the situation. 

He shrugged. “Incidentally,” He informed me.  “The best hiding place is in plain sight.”

Jack told me not to worry about the bet as the look on my face when I realized that I’d been had me was worth more then money itself.

Tried as I might, I have never been able to trick Jack as he did me that year.

 

Jack and I moved out from each other and in with our respective, then girlfriends, that following summer but still kept in touch and even though we’re both now family men, that story still gets a laugh every Christmas because of my own ability to not realize what the best hiding place was. 

Reviews

[WPChristensen]

Kind of shows a dynamic relationship, Jack is the lazy slob but ends up teaching the narrator a lesson in the end. Kind of begs the question of how well they really know each other if Jack is still able to surprise the narrator like this.
I liked it, although I'd be interested in seeing Jack explored a little more.

[DeWinter79]

Nice narrative! Loved the "Odd Couple" dynamic, and the chuckle at the end. This could be expanded on. I already like these characters. (:

[MC Blodeuwedd]

Good story. Definitely has a lot of grammar errors just fyi. But It is a pretty delightful story. Got a chuckle out of me even.

[Dragonslayer57]

This is the first story that I looked at that had dialog and paragraphs. The story kept me wanting to read more. Very good. A fantastic ending.