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What A Day

Running Late

By Mother CombsPublished 7 months ago 2 min read
Image created by author using AI

Rising early that morning, Geoffrey showered and shaved, getting soap in his eyes and nicking his face, effectively setting the mood for his day. In the bedroom closet, he could only find a single clean shirt to wear. Reaching for his favorite shoes, he hit his head on the closet shelves when he lifted back up.

Heading into the kitchen, he had a quick protein bar and a cup of coffee, spilling some on his shirt. Deciding he didn’t have enough time to find another clean shirt, he tucked it in and grabbed his lunch. At the last moment, he snagged an apple and headed down the hall.

In the entry closet, Geoffrey grabs his light spring jacket. Picking up his keys from the side table, he opened the front door to leave his apartment. Stumbling, he caught the material of his jacket on the doorframe, ripping a hole in the sleeve. Groaning, he turned to go back inside the apartment, when he realized he had grabbed only the car keys.

Geoffrey slammed both his fists against the door. Cussing, he turned and headed toward the elevator. He’d have to contact the building super to meet him after work with the master key.

Down in the lobby, he was hurrying along when he lost his footing and almost went down on his ass. Four of the seven lights were out, or he would have seen the liquid someone had spilled and refused to clean up. Grimacing, Geoffrey shook his feet before he continued to the street.

Outside, his car was blocked in by delivery trucks that weren’t in too big of a hurry to move. So Geoffrey decided to run down to the next street and see if there was a taxi nearby. Checking the time on his phone, he quickened his pace.

The sidewalks were crowded today, and everyone seemed to be working against him. Their jostling slowed him down some, and in some spots, Geoffrey was forced nearly into a crawl. Seeing an opening up ahead in the crowd, he pushed forward, breaking free of the people, and rushed forward, straight into a five-foot by six-foot sheet of plexiglass. Nearly rupturing his nose as he bounced off the shatterproof glass.

Geoffrey stood back up. Rubbing his nose, he waited for the glass installers to walk into the store. A pounding headache was starting to form, and he knew he was going to be late for work now. He really shouldn’t have gotten out of bed today.

Somewhere he could hear a loud whistle, which was growing louder by the second. People around him were starting to show agitation. Those close to him took off and ran. He could see many in the crowd yelling and pointing up.

Shaking his head, trying to clear it, Geoffrey wished the ringing in his ears would stop long enough for him to understand what everyone was trying to say. He always thought ringing in the ears would sound more like a phone ringing, not a whistle blowing.

He noticed that some of the crowd had pulled out their smartphones. He couldn’t understand why. Finally, he decided to look at what everyone was pointing at.

As the safe hurtled into his head, his mind had time to register that the serial numbers were on the bottom. U123KD01234

* Splat *

MicrofictionStream of ConsciousnessShort Story

About the Creator

Mother Combs

Come near, sit a spell, and listen to tales of old as I sit and rock by my fire. I'll serve you some cocoa and cookies as I tell you of the time long gone by when your Greats-greats once lived.

AB

Admin = ViM

LYLAS

Mike Judey Dharr Grz Jay

.

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Comments (12)

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  • A. J. Schoenfeld7 months ago

    It's like Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible No Good Very Bad Day, but for adults. Also, I loved that they had time to take out their phones to record it, but no one had time to push him out of the way. What a perfect commentary on today's society!

  • Grz Colm7 months ago

    Oh no! “He really shouldn’t have gotten out of bed today.” Agreed and I’ve often thought that. 😅 Fun piece, M Combs! ☺️ 💚

  • Otherwise known as Tuesday.

  • D.K. Shepard7 months ago

    And I thought I had bad days...poor poor Geoffrey

  • K.B. Silver 7 months ago

    oof, now that's a bad day.

  • Komal7 months ago

    😂 Oh poor Geoffrey—what a gloriously escalating disaster of a day! Absolutely crushed it (well… the safe did)! Bet Geoffrey never ignores a crowd again… if he ever gets another shot. 😅

  • Denise E Lindquist7 months ago

    Oh no!! Some days can feel like that!😉Here is hoping to never have one quite like that!😉🌷

  • C. Rommial Butler7 months ago

    Well-wrought!

  • Euan Brennan7 months ago

    Aha, loved it! 😂 But poor Geoff. We've all been in similar situations; I do feel sorry for him (and hope he's alive, lol). It's great to see and read all these posts of yours, MC. Maybe you had a burst of writing inspiration, or maybe there were stored in that magnificent brain of yours for a little while. Either way, I'm a happy reader 😊

  • Hahahahahahahaha poor Geoffrey! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 It just kept getting worse, lol

  • One way to be the centre of attention, excellent

  • Ack! We've all been there, Geoffrey, hang in there!

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