Tuesday, March 23, 2010

My Magpie Tale- Pins and needles - 24/3/2010

(This post is my entry for the weekly photo prompt writing for The Magpie Tales)


She lay on her stomach on the edge of the couch. Staring at the wooden floor, the dark crevices between the tiles, the general pattern and the absence of it. The dust on the floor was clearly visible from that angle. May be she should bend down to that level during her weekly cleaning.It was 6 am on a tuesday morning. She heard the church bells from behind her house. She wondered if the bells rang every day.

It was early for anyone, especially someone who didn't have a job to go to. She and 23 others were given one hour to vacate their desks and surrender their id cards on Monday. By 2PM she was back home with 24 days of valid train pass, a 250gm bar of Kit-kat and no job.


 She peeled herself from the couch to make coffee.On her way to the kitchen, she stumbled upon the wooden planks the carpenter left behind yesterday. The large walnut wooden book shelf was almost built. She always wanted the one with those zig-zag asymmetrical shelves. The carpenter was confused with her description of the design but had done a good job of it. She couldn't pay him anymore. With no job and a thin chance of finding another one easily, she needed the savings. The carpenter politely accepted her apologies for withdrawing the contract,though he seriously doubted her capacity to wind up the unfinished job.






The last two planks had to be nailed into the rest of the structure. She found herself sitting on the floor, a 5 feet long wooden shelf in front of her, a hammer on one side and a box of nails on the other. From the half-opened box of nails,she absently took out one nail and held it like a cigarette for a while. She then frantically started hammering the nails into the wood before her. After about 12 minutes, she had nailed "IT GOES ON" on the plank.

As the carpenter had suspected, she never completed the book-shelf.

14 comments:

Brian Miller said...

a sad beginning with a happy ending...it does go on...

steviewren said...

We all need a little therapy with a hammer sometimes. I bet she felt better after that.

spacedlaw said...

Excellent if sad. I bet hammering did help.

Peter Goulding said...

Good woman herself. Better a plank of wood than someone's head!

Geetly said...

Thanks Brian ,Steviewren, Nathalie , Peter for stopping by.

I am sure hammering helped her. Atleast I felt great after I made her hammer the plank :)
Although we all need hammering, only a lucky few find planks and hammers in the right places at the right time.

Rajesh Rao Hanumanth said...

Losing a job & nailing a plank must be a great therapy. Good one! Wonder what she would have done if it were an axe and not a hammer ...

Lyn said...

As the song says.."If I had a hammer!" It's good to make some noise at times...

Steve Capelin said...

It goes on - I liked the ending. A deceptively simple tale with a nice touch. I also liked the boredom - the dust on the floor.

Vicki Lane said...

Who knows, she may have just transformed that book shelf from unfinished craft into finished art.

Angie Muresan said...

Better hammering an inanimate object than an animate being. Great story. Love the ending.

Tess Kincaid said...

Hammer therapy. I LOVE it!

Krunal said...

Well done Geetly, you hit the right nail...

The Bug said...

Hmm - I think I'll suggest that our HR department keep a hammer & some nails to give folks they lay off. On second thought that would probably be a BAD idea LOL.

I enjoyed the story - & would like to hear more about her...

Jan of Thousand Acres said...

Such great writing, loved this piece.