Eclectic Narratives - Getting Work Done [#165]

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           “Finally, I can get some work done,” David muttered as he sat down at his desk in the server room, piping hot coffee in one hand and a stack of papers in the other. The hum of all the computers surrounding him soothed the engineer. He took one look at his pile of documents, each of them labeled “High Priority” in bold, red ink, and dumped them in the recycling bin under his desk. David put his mug of coffee up to his lips, finally ready to start the day.

           “Hey, Davey!” A coworker burst into the room.

           “What do you want, Stanley?” David sighed as he set his coffee down.

           “Nothing much,” Stanley lied, “the boss wants those progress reports on his desk before 7:00 pm.”

           ‘And by that, he means he means four.’ David rolled his eyes, “Isn’t that your job?”

           “Nah, man, I got to slip out within the hour,” Stanley explained.

           “Don’t want to miss that baseball game,” David spat.

           “Yeah,” Stanley agreed before realizing the implication, “I mean, no. I got a doctor’s appointment. So, could you be a pal and handle it?” 

           “No,” David replied.

           “Thanks, Davey,” Stanley ignored him and exited the room.

           “Ok, now I can get some work done,” David put his coffee back to his lips.

           “David,” the boss entered the room.

           “Yeah, boss,” the engineer suppressed his frustration as he put the coffee back down.

           “Stanley told me you’d handle the progress reports, that was quite nice of you,” the boss smiled.

           “I believe he’s mistaken,” David explained, “I said I’d handle the process reports.”

           “Oh, I’m sorry,” the boss apologized, “could you handle them, though? Stanley has a doctor’s appointment, and everyone else is too busy.”

           ‘So am I,’ David screamed internally, “sure thing, boss, I’ll see if I can find time in the day.”

           “Good sport,” the boss chirped, “of yes, the CEO is coming by tomorrow. I’d like you to create a presentation to go with the progress reports. Put in a lot of fancy slideshow effects and charts showing increasing revenue.”

           “Um, sir,” David began, “this is a project to improve our internal processes to save money in the long term. It doesn’t have any revenue.”

           “Oh, well, I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” the boss shrugged. “Get on it then, I want to see the first draft before the end of the day, so I can supply revisions.”

           ‘Dear Lord,’ David screamed internally, “I’ll see what I can do.”

           “I knew I could count on your David,” the boss nodded and left. With his superior out of the room, David quickly jumped to his feet and locked the door.

           “Now, getting work done,” David put the coffee back to his lips. There was a knock at the door, but the engineer tried to ignore it as he took a sip. “Cold,” he muttered as he set the coffee back and sighed. The knocking at the door gave way to banging. “Christ,” David stood up, walked to the door, and unlocked it.

           “About damn time,” an angry man screamed at David, leaving a nice layer of spit along the engineer’s face. “Why is this door locked?”

           “Who are you?” David asked the unfamiliar man.

           “This is getting in the way of my work,” the man continued to vent.          

           “What could you possibly need from the server room?” David inquired.

           “Wait till your manager hears that you locked me out of my office,” the man stomped his feet.

           “Sir, this isn’t your office, it’s the server room,” David tried to explain.

           “Get out of my way,” the man forced his way past, “the hell did you do to my office?”

           “It’s not your office; it’s the server room,” the engineer repeated himself.

           “The hell is the server room doing in my office?” The man yelled.

           “Sir,” David tried to get a word in.

           “That’s it, I’m getting HR involved, they’ll tear you a new one,” the man thundered out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

           “This will be fun to explain later,” David sighed. “Wait, I have an idea.” The engineer dug into a nearby closet, filled with miscellaneous supplies. He pulled out a couple old caution and danger signs from the back. “Haven’t used these since the server fire of 99,” David reminisced. With all the elegance and grace of an exhausted tech worker, he hung the signs all over the door to the server room and locked it tight.

           David sat back down in his chair and took another sip of his ice-cold coffee. The engineer let out a deep sigh and stared at his computer, the login screen ready to accept his password. David shrugged and drank more of his coffee.

           “Sometimes, I wonder why I even bother,” David logged into his computer and started his workday in earnest. “Oh, right,” the engineer smiled as he opened up a document that displayed all the members of upper management. It depicted numerous faces, from his boss to the CEO and the angry man from earlier, and contained information about their computers. With a few keyboard shortcuts and clicks of the mouse, he navigated several programs. With one last click, a few changes were made to Stanley, his boss, and the angry man’s computers. Being thorough, David noted the changes.

           “Internet connection throttled, and computer slowed to fix a strange bug,” the note read. “Update should roll out sooner rather than later to fix the issue.” David smiled as he finalized his handiwork.

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Sometimes you must seek fulfillment in those small, petty victories, because your boss won't give you time for much else.

Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy

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Enigmatic Fantasies - Place Down Below [#164]

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There is a place you might just know.

Deep beneath the streets, far below.

It is not pleasant, nor is it safe.

Alas, it is the only sanctuary for the waif.

If you would climb down into the sewers, and pass through its putrid halls.

If you search thoroughly, observing the holes in each of the walls.

One path would take you, without pause or detour, to the deepest place.

You might call it a village, or a small town, hidden at this city’s base

It is not well kept, nor is it a pretty sight, but to those below, it is home.

It is a place where the poor, hopeless, and destitute are free to roam.

Disease is rampant, thievery a fact of life, danger around each corner.

However, it sits out of the city’s watchful eye and welcomes all, exiled, or foreigner.

When all hope is gone, and everything you know is lost.

That place will be your last stop, and nothing it will cost.

Is it the last hope for those at the end of their rope?

Or the first torment for those who can no longer cope?

It is for you to decide when you find yourself there.

Everyone finds themselves in the place below at some point, it is only fair.

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No matter who you are, there's always a chance you'll hit rock bottom. They will be waiting for you down there. *Ominous Music*

Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy 

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Strange Sci-fi Tales - Can't Go Back [#163]

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           The lab, I can’t go back, not again, never again. Why did I agree to that experiment? It was unethical, even at a cursory glance. The money was great, and my job was on the line, but even then, I knew my conscience would never let me live with myself. The screams, I can’t get them out of my head. They were so loud, so frequent, so numerous that I couldn’t tell which belonged to the subject and which belonged to my peers.

           I ran, I’ll admit that much. The experiment went out of control, and my peers suffered as a result. I knew trouble when I saw it, and when everyone else was getting ready to celebrate, I slipped away to a safe distance. There was an observation deck with protective glass, it was empty because everyone wanted to see the results up close. I stayed up there for a while, as the experiment reached its conclusion, it was a horrific sight.

           I don’t know if it was a mistake in our calculations, or if the experiment was always doomed. I didn’t want to think about it, I ran within a minute, but the screams carried with me until I left the building. I should have told someone on my way out, got security down there. I know I caught several concerned stares, and a few even tried to stop me. However, my body moved on its own, and I left them all to their fate.

           I’m sure it’ll be on the news any minute now, they won’t be able to cover it up. I’m probably going to be blamed for it, sabotage or something. I am an fault, but I never did anything with intention of causing this catastrophe. My only sin was agreeing to this blasted experiment in the first place. Although, it’s not like this result would be any different if I refused.

           I should probably go, hop on a plane out of the country now while I still can. That’d probably be the best result I can hope for. Alas, my morals are telling me to stay, to face my responsibilities head-on. But does it even matter, do I really have a choice? There might not be a chance for me to escape this madness, whether they catch up to me, or the experiment does.

 

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Sometimes we're pressed into actions we don't agree with because of factors outside our control. In the end, when it all catches up to you the only thing you can decide is whether to run or face the consequences.

Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy

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Enigmatic Fantasies - Blighted Waters Part 3 (Final)

Part 1
Part 2

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           “It’s incredible,” Albert exclaimed as he viewed his life’s work. The man’s younger days were long past him. His head was balding, he was short several fingers, missing many teeth, and his face was wrinkled. However, that was of no concern, because the village had grown wondrously. The shantytown that began as a couple of wooden bridges and platforms built along the giant stone arch now stretched down to the lake below. They had no reason to shelter themselves in Latrec’s sewers any longer. Their village was more than large enough to house the majority of their people.

           “Still haven’t decided on that name?” Gordon joked the remains of the older man’s hair had gone gray, and his beard stretched down to his chest.

           “I still say we should call it Shanty,” Joseph interjected, his smile showed his many missing teeth.

           “It’ll be called what it’s called,” Albert shook his head, “I’m sure they’ll be a consensus eventually.” The aging man took a seat. “Every day I’ve waited for Latrec’s officials to come and remove us, but they’ve never come. Do they even know we exist?”

           “Don’t they’d be so blind,” Gordon coughed, “especially now, there’s no missing us, nor pretending we don’t exist.”

           “I guess they just don’t care,” Joseph shrugged.

          “I certainly hope so,” Albert scanned the wooden shantytown, his eyes observing every resident they passed. As his vision looped back to the outflow pipe that started it all so many years ago, he noticed something strange. ‘The sewer water looks darker than usual, I didn’t realize that was possible.’

~--~

           “The flow of new arrivals has nearly stopped,” Gordon explained. He and Albert had set themselves up in one of the wooden shacks high up in the village. The night was dark, but a small candle lit up their space.

           “More to for reinforcing the structure then,” Albert nodded. “Have that young man from the lowest level do it, he’s strong.”

           “Can’t, he’s ill,” Gordon shook his head.

           “How unfortunate,” Albert sighed, “I’ll figure it out in the morning then.” The aging man yawned, his eyes still glanced towards the outflow pipe. It was too dark to see the flowing water, but he knew the liquid was still cloudier than usual. Suddenly, Albert felt a painful cough overtake him before it passed in a moment.

           “Something foul is going around again,” Gordon wheezed, “worse than usual.”

           “I’d recommend we pull water from further out in the lake for a while,” Albert stated, “just a hunch.”

~--~

           “How’s Gordon,” Joseph inquired. He and Albert stood outside a small shack which housed their mutual friend.

           “He’s up in the years, so the disease is taking its toll,” Albert tried to hide his forlorn expression. “I wish we had a doctor or priest, anything to comfort him.”

           “It was bound to happen sooner or later,” Joseph sighed. “It’ll happen to us soon too, that’s how getting old works.”

           “I guess,” Albert suppressed a lingering memory of his father. “You still teaching those boys your skills?”

           “They’re quick learners,” Joseph chuckled, “the future is in good hands.”

~--~

           “It’s been awfully quiet lately,” Albert commented as he stared out towards the lake. It was cloudier than he remembered.

           “Hasn’t been the same without Gordon,” Joseph coughed.

           “No, I mean in general,” Albert gestured to the village. Still, as full as ever, the shantytown was almost bereft of activity.

           “That sickness is hitting us hard,” Joseph agreed.

           “Not just here,” Albert shook his head, “the flow of new arrivals stopped some time back. It was Gordon’s job to keep track of them, so I didn’t notice until recently.”

           “Think something terrible happened?” Joseph’s concern grew.

           “I don’t know,” Albert replied, “I’m more concerned about the village.”

           “Didn’t I tell you before,” Joseph assured his friend, “the future is in good hands.” He pointed out the few residents still at work, repairing and reinforcing the village. A couple were even expanding the massive shantytown.

           “I certainly hope you’re right,” Albert coughed.

~--~

           The waters had only grown more clouded, darker, blacker, blighted. Albert had initially insisted they pull water from further out in the lake. However, that became less possible as sickness enacted a vice-grip on the village. Eventually, the aging man gave up on the idea, his people needed water, and he felt that soon it wouldn’t matter where they got water from.

           “The future is in good hands,” Albert repeated to himself. The old man had lost almost all his teeth, his head had gone bald, his skin wrinkled, and his body malnourished. His mind briefly wondered where Joseph was until he remembered his friend had died years ago. “The future is in good hands,” he told himself as he rested against the wall next to the outflow pipe.

           It was almost sunrise, but it was so very cold. The old man didn’t know if he had another hour in him. He coughed and wheezed and struggled to keep his eyes open. As his latest attack came to an end, he took a moment to breathe.

           “The future is in good hands,” Albert assured himself. The village’s activity was minimal, but it was there. The population had dwindled somewhat, but it was still quite full. “The future is in good hands,” the dying man repeated.

           Finally, the first light of the sun peeked over the horizon, and a small sense of relief washed over Albert. He allowed himself to close his eyes and rest a little bit. It wouldn’t be much longer.

           “Foolish old man,” Albert mumbled as the sun rose over the horizon.

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Whether or not we leave a lasting mark on the world may not entirely be in our hands, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try.

Admittedly, I planned on making this a four part story, with the last part covering the event following Albert's death and the village's continued struggles. However, I found that I was taking it in a very negative direction, and that the ending in part 3 felt a little better. Honestly it's a little too vague, but I think that's better than spelling out everything that happens next.

Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy

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