| Satire Fiction posted August 24, 2013 |
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A short story
Office Prank
by dejohnsrld (Debbie)
Office Prank
“Damn cat,” Jill mutters as she nearly trips on him racing to get to the kitchen. She is late again, as always. She scrambles to put together a pot of coffee. As it brews, she quickly gets ready for work, a process she had carefully honed to be able to complete in ten minutes. She always waited until the last minute to get out of bed.
“Damn coffee,” she said as she pulled out of the garage. She realized had left the cup she poured on the counter. Too late now, she couldn’t be late again. She worked in a small book-keeping office which managed the payroll for several very small companies.
There were seven in her office, six very organized and very much morning people, and Jill, who struggled with punctuality, on a daily basis. There was an office where Sue, the owner, worked. Sue who would give her that look when she, once again, walked in late. The other six of them worked in cubicles arranged in a two by three rectangle, all facing the center of the office so they would not be caught daydreaming while looking out the large windows. All she could see was the wall in front of her. The others adorned their cubicle walls with pictures and photographs. Jill did not see any point to that, so her wall remained bare and very white.
The night before April Fools’ Day, Jill had stayed late under the pretense of needing to finish the account she was working on. After everyone left, she had removed all of the personal items adorning the other cubicles, and put them in the lower drawer of her file cabinet.
The next day, as she rushed in the door, she was met with angry glares from her coworkers who did not see the humor in her practical joke. Items were returned and everyone redecorated their little spaces and returned to work. She thought Sue would probably talk to her about this even though, as her office had been locked, she was not a victim of this game of hide-and-seek. Sue said nothing. Jill decided Sue must have thought incurring the wrath of the other five was sufficient punishment. That was it.
Jill still smiled to herself as she imagined their shocked faces when they thought someone had stolen their prized possessions, an image which she thought about most every morning of the next two months. Today was no different.
As she burst through the door, suppressing a smirk, Jill saw that the owner was apparently in her office and the other five were hard at work already. No one turned to look at her. No one said a word. Jill planned to settle down to work, but noticed that Jackie, who had short, brown hair, was sporting a new hair-do. Her hair was long and very red as it cascaded down to her shoulders. Hmm, it was a wig apparently. She hadn’t thought Jackie was one to really care much about her appearance.
She looked at the Joe’s back as he was hard at work. His usually slender, white body looked as though he had been working out at the gym and using a tanning bed too." Not a bad look," Jill thought, wondering why she hadn’t noticed before. " He has potential."
Amy had her long blonde hair pulled into a short ponytail as Jill passed by her. “Wow,” thought Jill. She was surprised because Amy usually seemed quite proud of her long mane.
“Weird,” she thought as rounded the corner of the rectangle. Passing by Terry, she noted he must be attending a funeral or something that day as he was dressed in black suit jacket. Normally, he wore a T-shirt and sweatpants. No one really cared what they wore there while they manipulated their numbers. Only Sue actually had contact with the clients.
She glanced briefly at Sue’s closed door. No dirty looks today. Not that the looks actually bothered her that much. Jill looked at Carolyn, already hard at work. She had been losing weight. Usually quite plump, today, she had on a very tight, slinky maroon dress revealing her weight loss. Jill entered her cubicle to find it plastered from top to bottom with pictures and posters. There was no white showing on the walls today.
“Okay,” she thought. Retribution for her April Fools’ Day prank, she supposed. She started ripping the items off of her walls. As she un-decorated her walls, she heard a very deep and loud male voice summon her to Sue’s office. She turned around to see a large, dark-haired man in the doorway. She had never seen him before. Who was he? Where was Sue?
He said, “Jill, I have been watching you the last couple of months. You’re late every day and have a negative effect on morale here.” Who was he and how had he been watching her if she had never seen him before? As she struggled to make sense of this, he continued, “Your coworkers have a message for you.”
She reeled around to see five complete strangers. In unison, they said, “Surprise!” A redhead, a man in a black suit, a very thin woman, a blonde with a short ponytail, and a muscular young man stood in the doorway. She was handed a balloon bouquet and showered with confetti.
Then, she remembered, it was her birthday!!!
Office Prank
“Damn cat,” Jill mutters as she nearly trips on him racing to get to the kitchen. She is late again, as always. She scrambles to put together a pot of coffee. As it brews, she quickly gets ready for work, a process she had carefully honed to be able to complete in ten minutes. She always waited until the last minute to get out of bed.
“Damn coffee,” she said as she pulled out of the garage. She realized had left the cup she poured on the counter. Too late now, she couldn’t be late again. She worked in a small book-keeping office which managed the payroll for several very small companies.
There were seven in her office, six very organized and very much morning people, and Jill, who struggled with punctuality, on a daily basis. There was an office where Sue, the owner, worked. Sue who would give her that look when she, once again, walked in late. The other six of them worked in cubicles arranged in a two by three rectangle, all facing the center of the office so they would not be caught daydreaming while looking out the large windows. All she could see was the wall in front of her. The others adorned their cubicle walls with pictures and photographs. Jill did not see any point to that, so her wall remained bare and very white.
The night before April Fools’ Day, Jill had stayed late under the pretense of needing to finish the account she was working on. After everyone left, she had removed all of the personal items adorning the other cubicles, and put them in the lower drawer of her file cabinet.
The next day, as she rushed in the door, she was met with angry glares from her coworkers who did not see the humor in her practical joke. Items were returned and everyone redecorated their little spaces and returned to work. She thought Sue would probably talk to her about this even though, as her office had been locked, she was not a victim of this game of hide-and-seek. Sue said nothing. Jill decided Sue must have thought incurring the wrath of the other five was sufficient punishment. That was it.
Jill still smiled to herself as she imagined their shocked faces when they thought someone had stolen their prized possessions, an image which she thought about most every morning of the next two months. Today was no different.
As she burst through the door, suppressing a smirk, Jill saw that the owner was apparently in her office and the other five were hard at work already. No one turned to look at her. No one said a word. Jill planned to settle down to work, but noticed that Jackie, who had short, brown hair, was sporting a new hair-do. Her hair was long and very red as it cascaded down to her shoulders. Hmm, it was a wig apparently. She hadn’t thought Jackie was one to really care much about her appearance.
She looked at the Joe’s back as he was hard at work. His usually slender, white body looked as though he had been working out at the gym and using a tanning bed too." Not a bad look," Jill thought, wondering why she hadn’t noticed before. " He has potential."
Amy had her long blonde hair pulled into a short ponytail as Jill passed by her. “Wow,” thought Jill. She was surprised because Amy usually seemed quite proud of her long mane.
“Weird,” she thought as rounded the corner of the rectangle. Passing by Terry, she noted he must be attending a funeral or something that day as he was dressed in black suit jacket. Normally, he wore a T-shirt and sweatpants. No one really cared what they wore there while they manipulated their numbers. Only Sue actually had contact with the clients.
She glanced briefly at Sue’s closed door. No dirty looks today. Not that the looks actually bothered her that much. Jill looked at Carolyn, already hard at work. She had been losing weight. Usually quite plump, today, she had on a very tight, slinky maroon dress revealing her weight loss. Jill entered her cubicle to find it plastered from top to bottom with pictures and posters. There was no white showing on the walls today.
“Okay,” she thought. Retribution for her April Fools’ Day prank, she supposed. She started ripping the items off of her walls. As she un-decorated her walls, she heard a very deep and loud male voice summon her to Sue’s office. She turned around to see a large, dark-haired man in the doorway. She had never seen him before. Who was he? Where was Sue?
He said, “Jill, I have been watching you the last couple of months. You’re late every day and have a negative effect on morale here.” Who was he and how had he been watching her if she had never seen him before? As she struggled to make sense of this, he continued, “Your coworkers have a message for you.”
She reeled around to see five complete strangers. In unison, they said, “Surprise!” A redhead, a man in a black suit, a very thin woman, a blonde with a short ponytail, and a muscular young man stood in the doorway. She was handed a balloon bouquet and showered with confetti.
Then, she remembered, it was her birthday!!!
 Recognized |
Thank yo lynnkah for the artwork
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and 2 member cents. Artwork by lynnkah at FanArtReview.com
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