I flick my pen back and forth. Writing flow charts. Deciding what I will do with my day. My hours of operation. Scheduling meetings. My markers resting nearby the board. Papers filed in the desks.
She has a chair, well two chairs and a desk. She’s rarely there though. Her office is at the cafe. Either with her laptop or a client. Usually with a client. And then not for long. Outside. Walking the streets. Absorbing the atmosphere and people appeal as silhouettes. Then she’ll head toward the sidewalk paths nearby the quarry. Walking alongside the lake path by the cat tails and lily pads. Among frogs chirping and birds singing.
My office isn’t musty. I spray my windows and vacuum regularly. I get excited by dust; just so I have a reason to clean.
No pictures are on her wall. It’s as if she decided quickly that her office is only necessary for quiet space.
She comes here sometimes. Usually only when something is wrong. I don’t bother her. I just notice how plain she dresses, smile to acknowledge her process. And do my best to make my office feel at home, because for some people; sitting still is just a timeout until the stirring spills over.
Her offices are brilliant. She is a living, breathing canvass.
Short Stories
Comments are closed.
3 Likes
1044 Views
Share:
This was a very charming little piece. I loved the line, “I get excited by dust; just so I have a reason to clean.” I like to clean when I’m stressed, and there’s nothing worse than cleaning something that’s already clean.
If you want to keep working on this, I challenge you to use longer sentences. Most are simple sentences, and that really causes the reader to continuously stop throughout the story. It kind of jerks us around. Compound and complex sentences will allow the reader to immerse themselves more in your images.
Thank you so much! Some sentences speak volumes.
I really did try to have somewhat of a Hemingway style with this writing to set the mood and tone. I would be lying if I said I hadn’t purposely written this way. It was almost a way to appear even boxier than I wished to be just to set the tone of her external extremities.
With that in mind, if one were to read more of my work, it would become obvious that this isn’t a usual writing style. I am constantly learning and trying new things though, so I will keep all feedback in mind, just as a vacuum picks up more than dust. But I’ll pick up the bigger chunks of your feedback and see what I can do.