Monday 6 July 2015

THE PROMOTION








Mondays Finish the Story – July 6th, 2015

Welcome to Mondays Finish the Story!

This is a unique flash fiction challenge where we provide you with a new photo each week, and the opening sentence of a story. Your challenge is to finish the story using 100-150 words, not including the sentence provided. Don’t forget to use the opening sentence… This challenge runs from Monday to Sunday! Get creative and have fun finishing the story!

A huge thanks goes out to Ali over at Dralimanonlife for coming up with this week’s opening lines. I think that you are certain to have fun with this one. :D

Please include the photo with your bit of flash and a link back to this post.

https://mondaysfinishthestory.wordpress.com/2015/07/06/mondays-finish-the-story-july-6th-2015/ 

© 2015, Barbara W. Beacham


Finish the story begins with:  “The barista shook his head. That hedge couldn’t have moved closer overnight. Could it?”

THE PROMOTION

“The barista shook his head. That hedge couldn’t have moved closer overnight. Could it?”

Perhaps it was time to make an appointment with his optician.  James shook his head, blinked rapidly and squinted outside the window.  The light filtered in through the slatted wooden blinds that were half drawn against the double aspect window.

He cleaned the Formica counter tops, a hateful job at the best of times with ground-in coffee grains, spilt hot milk and dirty rings from cups left on the counter by the night staff.  

When he was promoted to manager the evening staff would clean up before they left for the night, not just lock up and dash to the local bar for last orders.  James hated slovenliness with a vengeance, keeping his own home clean to maintain sterility to help alleviate his mother’s asthma from any  stray dust molecules.

One day he’d feel as happy and carefree as that topiary hedge outside, probably when it had reached the windows.

Word count: 150
 

8 comments:

  1. Nicely done Sally! Thank you for writing again for the Mondays Finish the Story challenge. Be well... ^..^

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  2. LOL! He is measuring time by the bushes moving. Haha! Hopefully he will be promoted to manager by then.

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  3. I wonder if the staff would ever meet his expectations.

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  4. At least he has a plan, though it appears to be very long term :-). Nice story!

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  5. I am constantly amazed by your ability to paint such vivid images (and to really show, something that so many of us struggle with) in such few words. Nice work on this one!

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  6. Fun! Fun! Fun!

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  7. A slice of time nicely captured. Oh the drudgery of it!

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  8. He doesn't seem to be worried about the hedge. Sounds like he's had that kind of experience before. Maybe its moving has something to do with him. Rather creepy. Well done, Sally. :) --- Suzanne

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