A random piece I wrote in class yesterday, hope it's not too bad.

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The taxi pulled up to the curb and half a dozen young children burst out on to the footpath. The frazzled mother paid the taxi driver and apologized, but beneath her exhausted look hid many other emotions.

Joy. Relief. Hope.

Any time now, she would soon see her husband again. He had been away on business for what had seemed like such a long time, and they had never been away from each other for this long before. She ached to see his face again. Oh, how she hoped he had stayed faithful over the long time away.

Soon this ordeal would be over. In the far distance, it was possible to see the tiny ferry, carrying her husband and many others, through the sea spray, slowly making its way to the wharf.

Running after her children, she pushed through the large crowd of people out on to the wharf.

No one noticed that there was one man by himself. He stood separately from the crowd, leaning against a pole.

He was smartly dressed and on the side of his briefcase his initials were stamped- M.L.

Anyone passing by would think him to be just an impatient businessman waiting for his wife…

They would be terribly wrong.

Mark watched the children playing on the edge of the wharf and a pang of guilt pierced his heart. He quickly dismissed it before it evolved into something more serious, and gained his composure.

Mark shook his head. He couldn’t afford his conscience playing up now at such a vital time… least of all now- with people watching, spying on him.

He couldn’t deny noticing that he was never alone. That there was always somebody watching.

The black Corolla parked outside his house. His next-door neighbour. Even now he’d place a bet that the taxi driver had been paid to sit there and watch him.

Mark had expected it when he accepted the job, but now he wondered whether he was cut out for it.

He wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead and gazed out at the horizon.

Any time now the ferry would stop and… Mark reached down into his briefcase and pulled out a thick folder.

He checked his notes for the fifth time in the last twenty minutes. Everything was sorted.

The explosion would be enough to engulf the entire ferry in flames, but not enough to blow it to pieces.

Jane Watson, the owner of the ferry and Admiral Samuel Mathews, commander of Coast Guard operations, had both been paid considerable amounts to ‘confuse the matter’ by putting forward misleading information and conflicting facts. If all went to plan, the Admiral would even manage to keep the police force from entering the ferry, before all evidence was removed.

Mark smiled. There was no way anything could be traced back to him.

Mark placed his folder back in the briefcase and grabbed a small pair of binoculars from the inside pocket. After adjusting the vision, he focused in on the ferry and had a closer look.’

He checked his watch. Any time now…

Suddenly, as if from nowhere, the ferry became a ball of fiery light, and a load roar could be heard in the distance.

Panic broke out on the wharf and a young woman snatched Mark’s binoculars to get a closer look.

Mark stood up straight, and wiped the dust from his suit. He turned and walked away. An expressionless face.

Mission Accomplished.