Posts Tagged ‘Work’
Jun
Keeping Up Appearances
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
Several seats were open at the bar and I sat next to an elderly lady. “Don’t forget Michelle’s dinner,” I thought.
“How do you do?” the lady asked.
“Pretty well. Just getting home from work. How are you?”
“I’m well, thanks. Where do you work?”
“I work as a counselor,” I said. I was a peer counselor but I didn’t want to disclose my diagnosis.
“What’s your focus?”
“Psychotic disorders.”
“I feel so bad for those poor people,” she said as she looked at her glass.
“Oh, I dunno, you’d be surprised. Some of them do better than you think.”
From Guest Contributor Steve Colori
Mar
Forever In Sunset
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
Seamus liked this time of day for visiting Breige. It seemed fitting.
She’d enjoyed sitting outside in her Yorkshire Fiddleback, just under the scullery window, breathing in the satisfied air of a full day’s work done as the chickens clucked down the hours to twilight.
She’d watch the sun set across the farm.
“Hell of an old gal,” Seamus sighed, manoeuvring to stand in the spot, watching his shadow sweep along the cemetery path.
The sun dipped, sending the shade of her headstone growing alongside his until it was shoulder to shoulder.
He reached out, smiling as the shadows embraced.
From Guest Contributor Perry McDaid
Jan
The Dog And I
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
The dog and I had a disagreement over where my hands belonged. She had a name, but I’d reached the point where I rarely used it anymore.
“Why can’t you learn to be more independent?” I asked, trying desperately not to raise my voice.
“Why can’t you just put your stupid hands on me?” the dog asked with her eyes and whimpers.
It seemed we were at an impasse. I just wanted to read my book after a long day at work, and the dog just wanted to be loved after a long day of solitude. First world problems indeed.
From Guest Contributor Dan Slaten
Jan
Colony Collapse
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
Hands full of bees, Alice screamed at the sky. Sitting in the grass, blades tickled her thighs. Bee by bee, Alice lined them up. “I’m sorry,” said the speaker at a funeral attended only by the dead.
Maybe she shouldn’t have quit work. Never built an apiary. Would’ve been better joining a gym. Cooking. Reading books that lived in corners of her home. Would’ve been better to speak what he said in the elevator, his voice curling green, twisting to lick her ears.
Alice lay down, tears falling into her hair. She didn’t want the bees to see her cry.
From Guest Contributor Michaela Papa
Oct
How To Succeed In Business
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
Stephen had run out of work nearly an hour past and so resorted to tidying his inbox and creating email filters that would almost certainly remain unused after tonight. He thought about brewing another pot of coffee, but the late hour warned him against any more caffeine.
Stephen perked up when he saw the light go out in Mr. Campbell’s office. He scrambled for his bag and coat, flipped off his computer, and almost ran for the elevator. He had a clever joke picked out already.
Mr. Campbell hated these encounters. Tomorrow he would call HR and have Stephen fired.
Jun
Attrition
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
I’m meeting with Robert Todd, our best employee. He arrives early, stays late, seldom takes sick days, and works well with staff.
“Bob, come in,” I say when I spot him waiting by my office door.
“As you know the powers that be cut our budget and we have to let some employees go. Since you do the work of at least four of our other employees, I have no choice: get rid of four employees or you.”
“You don’t want to see four families lose their major primary breadwinners, do you?”
Bob didn’t respond.
“Robert, you’re fired,” I say.
From Guest Contributor Dave Harper
Dave, a recovering software developer, now finds himself addicted to writing fiction.
May
Metro Miracle Man
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
I’m tired. Every day I clean the floors, the toilets, empty the trash. After work, on the Metro, I see all the people sitting there, all the sad faces, tired faces, and think, okay people, it’s your lucky day—today is Miracle Day, people, what do you want?
I close my eyes—five, ten minutes. When I open them, the people are smiling. All their faces are changed because I have that power to change their lives. I look them over again and I am very happy. I close my eyes and say to myself, I am the Miracle Man.
From Guest Contributor Jeff Nazzaro
Apr
Grief Group
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
“It’s only been eleven months,” said the other woman afterwards.
“This’ll probably surprise you.”
“You’re attracted to one of the guys in our group?”
“Ha! No, what I miss most is the comfortable, predictable ways Ben and I had. But real love? It disappeared years ago.”
“Real love? You don’t know how lucky you were!”
“Yeah. Part of me likes being on my own again. Still…”
“So you’ll go for the passion next time?”
“Next time? My libido’s semi-retired. So I think it’d be more like us both coming home from work, and just drinking wine together at day’s end.”
From Guest Contributor Gerald Kamens
Mar
The Last Call Before A Trek
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
He woke up early that Sunday morning excited to go on a trek. His friends had been calling since morning, planning the route, discussing apparel. He was enthusiastic. It was a perfect getaway from the usual day-to-day stress. Chirping birds, a cool breeze, and serenity!
Last night had been disastrous. His wife was not satisfied with their sex life. She was adventurous and experienced. He had made bad decisions at work. To top it all off, he’d brawled with a friend.
He was about to leave when his phone rang. His ex-girlfriend said, “I love you”. He skipped the trek.
From Guest Contributor Manmeet Chadha
Manmeet is an Alumunus from the London School of Economics & Political Science. He works in India as an Economist & Writer.
Feb
The Never Ending Work
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
She looked at him constantly, with eyes full of stories, desires, and expectations.
He was not used to it. Nervous, he kept ignoring her.
She called to him. Scared, he turned back to look.
She murmured, “Gimme an hour of happiness.” He saw she was wearing a sari, shabbily tied, covering her sparsely. Her eyes were full of coal, lips beaming out in red. She was wearing socks in Calcutta summers. He could not stop himself from questioning her.
She smiled and replied that it was the only piece of clothing that she didn’t have to take off to work.
From Guest Contributor Manmeet Chadha