Couldn’t see flaws in the diamond on her finger
And he looked hard as he held her hand
Reality sometimes was hard to pencil into a narrative that worked for him
But he usually found a way to turn the coal in his stocking into something way more valuable
On this occasion, he turned his smile up to eleven to see if that would strike a shattering blow
Nothing could deviate her attention from her fiancé. The boy, on the other hand…
Reaching out to find out how more of her universe worked
Everything was subtly connected in fascinating ways
So when she ran into a dead end, she would happily start over
Except when that meant flushing years of work down the proverbial mental toilet
Reacting like anyone would, under those circumstances, she would become depressed
Cautiously she would begin to feel better and begin a new journey down a path she had yet to explore
Her energy renewed, ready to tackle another problem
Every day he tried to get to work on time, but he was always late
And every day his boss would threaten to fire him before letting him get to work
Risking his employment might not have been the smartest thing in the world, but he had problems
Look, he wasn’t a morning person, but he would work till well past midnight
You know what, maybe he wasn’t late, but since he worked deep into the night, maybe he was really…
Beating up on the game controller
As he hit all the buttons to try to win the game
Sometimes it worked, but most of the time he lost
However, it didn’t make a difference. He still had fun
Putting together yet another try was one of the most satisfying things he did
Reaching down he snapped in the last fitting and took a breath, ready to see if it worked
Of course, building all these iterations was also one of the worst things he could do
They reminded him of the numerous failures he didn’t plan for, that he was a bad engineer
Only he knew there was almost zero chance that the first one would work out of the box
That was the stuff of myths, legends, and dumb luck
Yearning to know if this was the one, he flipped the on switch
Prepared for sparks to fly and flames to claim one more attempt
Except this time it didn’t burn. It still didn’t work, but that was still progress?
He thought he knew exactly what to do
Until he found out the hardware wouldn’t work
Being too smart for his own good he whipped up something new
Realizing that was a wasted four hours because he had just simply wired the original backwards
It had worked all the time if he had just opened his eyes and slowed down
So much for a calm Sunday
Didn’t read the fine print of the contract
Of course that’s how a lot of these stories start
Catch 22’s galore in the legalese that no one can decipher
Unless you are a lawyer, and even then you have to be speak a dialect of Parseltongue
Making the rest of the tale about maneuvering out of the inevitable
Enabling our hero to have the last laugh
Now only if that worked in real life
Then I would be so done with these student loans
Scurrying thoughts running crazy inside his head
Put him on his mental treadmill, trying to exercise them away
Reaching an exhaustion level that would allow him to fall unconscious
It sometimes worked, but tonight the ideas and thoughts were too fast
Not that he gave up dashing after them, but waking hours passed slowly
That’s what made the alarm the next morning such a rude starting pistol for the new day
Stories and photos from Scotland
A paper-cut survivor
Abdi Mohammed
The Art of Prose and Poetry
self-publishing
Sarah Torribio and her right brain. Music. Musings. Writing. Style.
We Survived and Arrived - Now as Warriors We Thrive
With previous posting of "Our World" on Blogger
Sharing is Learning
AUTHOR
Random Stuff I Think You'll Like
Things I love, typically with people I love. Will likely be hiking, baking, and doing other things that make me happy.
The Official Home of Rolli - Author, Cartoonist and Songwriter
Never Short On Words 