On the dewy morning of August 23rd, an alarm rang at exactly 7:25 a.m.
Trrring! Trrring!
The apartment in which this alarm just rang, was simple and mundane. A, currently occupied, double bed in one room with a mahogany, polished cabinet, decorated with pictures stuck there with slowly peeling Sellotape. A white 6-foot door led one into a small sitting area, consisting of a leather couch, placed in front of a black Samsung TV. Behind it was a small kitchen, complete with a pinewood shelf holding intricately designed wood carvings. Twenty-five of them to be exact. Back to the bedroom, a man, with long black wavy hair, and vivid, forest green eyes, was arising from the bed, feet slipping into fluffy white slippers. As he made his way to the shower, he checked the time, twenty-five minutes left to get ready.
After changing into his suit and munching down some Cheerio's, he tied his tie (which had twenty-five stripes exactly) and stepped out into the 25th street in Brooklyn, New York, and took twenty-five seconds to appreciate the crisp, morning air before stepping into his black Mercedes and headed off to work. Not that anyone was counting. Now, this man (who we still don't know the name of) worked as an architect in a company called, 'Skidmore Architecture.'
"Good morning, Mr Brown," a brunette girl greeted as he walked past.
"Good morning, Tiana,"
Twenty-five seconds passed in the elevator until it came to a screeching halt. As the newly dubbed, Mr Brown walked into his company's office room, he was greeted by a shout of, "'morning Kieran!"
"Good to see you too, Clara," A deep chuckle left his mouth at the sight of his cousin bounding up to him.
She was only a few years younger than him, but he loved her dearly and spoiled her to bits. After all, they only had each other, the rest of their family had passed on... but that was a story for another time. Now, it was time to work and design their new hotel.
Mr Kieran Brown, as we now know him, sat down on his desk in the 25th row from the front, with exactly 25 rows behind him. Next to him, Clara sat back down. "You know," she began, "This twenty-five thing of yours... It's very strange. Don't you think it's weird that you're seeing the same number everywhere? Your tie has twenty-five stripes. Your alarm at 7:25, you have twenty-five carvings on your shelf, you live on the 25th street. It takes 25 minutes for you to get here. 25 seconds in the elevator, and you sit on the 25th row. It can't just be a coincidence!"
Kieran looked like he agreed but refrained from saying anything for at that moment their Boss, Mr Grisle walked past with his usual menacing glare. As they held their breaths trying to avoid any reason for either of them to be fired, he stopped at their table slamming his hands on the des with a big BANG!
"Meeting, 9:25! Don't be late!"
As he continued on his way down the twenty-five desks Clara released her breath with a large sigh, but then a thoughtful look crossed her face, "the meeting is at 9:25! 25 again!"
"I agree," Kieran sighed, "What do I do?"
"Nothing! You will not do anything; we will do something!" Clara declared.
"I don't suppose you're going to tell me this brilliant plan of yours, are you?"
"Oh, shut up, I was thinking we could force your way out of this twenty-five thing,"
"Force my way out of it? Like, turn up to the meeting late! Maybe by a minute but not more!"
"Actually, I was thinking 9:30 but-" Clara grinned
"Nope! I'm good thanks. So, meeting at 9:26; I'll need to swap desks, change my alarm to 7:20, buy another carving or destroy one, get a new house, take a longer route to get here, and get someone to call the elevator whilst I'm in it to delay it!"
"Perfect," exclaimed Clara, who had been dutifully jotting everything down, "and, about the house thing, we could swap houses, I mean I live on the 26th street so it's not far at all!"
And so, The Grand Mathematic Plan was set into place, as Clara liked to call it. And it seemed to have worked, rather than turning up to the meeting at 9:25, he arrived at 9:26, much to Mr Grisle's irritation, but half of the people weren't there, so it didn't matter. That night, he packed away all of his things and sent them through a hole in the fence separating his and Clara's houses. The next day, he acquired a beautiful carving of a Japanese-style house and completed his collection. He bought a new tie with exactly 26 stripes instead. He swapped desks at work and because of living on 26th street, it took him exactly one minute longer to get to work. Clara made sure to leave before him so she could stop the elevator on multiple levels and hold the doors open, just to delay him. He also made sure to stop for a full half-minute every morning to appreciate the environment, before heading off to work.
This seemed to work spectacularly and so the cousins had a party to celebrate his 26th birthday and their freedom from the curse.
"Urrghhh!!!!" Clara burst out receiving shushing from around the office. It was the day after Kieran's 26th birthday and something had been bothering her all morning!
"What's got your knickers in a twist?" teased her very amused cousin.
"26!!! I hate numbers! Your 26 years old, you have 26 carvings, you live on the 26th street, it takes 26 minutes for you to get here, and now you sit in the 26th row, you have 26 stripes on your tie!"
The smile was immediately wiped off, only to be replaced by the look of horror on Kieran's face. This only had Clara break into fits of laughter, garnering a pout from the man beside her, who could hear phrases like 'your face!' or 'cursed idiot.'
At that very moment Mr Grisle, strode up to them, "Meeting at 9:25!" and he was starting to stomp off again but suddenly stopped and turned with a menacing grin on his face, "actually, make the 9:26, wouldn't want you to be late now, would we?" and with that, he continued rampaging through the desks.
"Shut up," Kieran grumbled, thoroughly annoyed with his cousin's antics. The girl in question was clutching her stomach, tears rolling down her face as she convulsed with laughter.
"You were twenty-five going on twenty-six!"
Kieran groaned and flopped his head onto the table; he was never going to hear the end of this.
~ Zahra
Also co-author of some of @alveenawrites 's books.
