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A Wealth of Geekiness
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A Wealth of Geekiness
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Prompt: Yesterday, your character called in sick on their birthday because they knew their co-workers had a surprise party planned. Write what happens today. Julie groaned and smacked the snooze button on her alarm clock one more time. Instead of sleeping, she used the time to rehearse her story again. Yesterday, she had called in sick to work. Yesterday was also her birthday. The office had planned a surprise party for her that she was privy to via an accidental inclusion on an email. She knew she would be in trouble, but every other month of the year, she was forbidden to take off any time on the first or last few days. Such was the curse of the accountant: great pay, good benefits, horrible vacation planning. Her story was simple, and she repeated it over and over in her mind, hoping it would be enough: She had laid in bed all day. Her husband Steve had taken care of her all day, up to and including chicken noodle soup in bed. In actuality, Steve had made her breakfast in bed, and then stayed in bed with her for longer than she could remember. She had thoroughly enjoyed that, but it was only the beginning. Steve gave her several gifts, including a new gold necklace, and he cooked her lunch. He then demanded that they go see a movie. The new Harry Potter was out after all, and who could resist that? After the movie was over, he took her to dinner at a very fancy restaurant. He had made reservations six-months ago. Finally, they ended the night dancing at a very exclusive club, coupled with a little bit of drinking. She smiled then sighed, and her alarm went off again. “It is Friday, at least,” she told herself. With that last bit of encouragement, she crawled out of bed and got ready for work. It was now the first, so she would have plenty of work to do today. Julie ducked into a side door to avoid most of the people on her way to her cubicle desk. Shortly after eight, her phone rang. It was George from Human Resources. She winced, trying to keep the sound of fear out of her voice. He asked her to come to his office to have a little chat. She told him that she would be there shortly. She took as long as she dared going to George’s office, expecting to get written up for calling out yesterday. When she finally knocked on his door, he gruffly told her to come in and have a seat. Once she was seated, he leveled a glare at her that she suspected his kids feared more than monsters in the closet or under the bed. She kept herself composed enough to not shy away from it, barely. “Mrs. Wilkes,” he said with gravity that was far too heavy for a greeting. “You are aware of the attendance policies of this company, are you not?” When she nodded, he continued, “Then you are aware that we take calling out fraudulently very seriously. You are also aware that we have a clause about any employee discovered to be lying about illness to get out of work is grounds for immediate termination.” A shiver tickled its way up Julie’s spine, and she nodded again. She tried to keep her gaze level with his eyes, but she could not help a downward glance when he said, “I have been informed of at least two locations you were yesterday during what would have been your shift. I am afraid I will have to ask for your badge. I will escort you to your desk to gather your things. Your employment here is hereby terminated.” The words hammered in her ears, and she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from crying. She nodded, stood, handed over her badge, and was led back to her desk. Where everyone in the office was waiting, smiling, and surrounding a cake with candles and the words “Happy Birthday Julie” on it. She blinked repeatedly and turned to look at George who was smirking impishly. Steve stepped out from behind the crowd and filled her in before someone got hurt. Steve had requested her birthday off when he made the reservations. Through George, Steve had made an elaborate plan to make Julie not want to be at work that day. He had played her like a fiddle, and she finally worked up the courage to laugh at the practical joke already thinking of ways to get even with him later.  Tags: #fictionfriday, #fridayflash, birthday, calling in sick, evilness, Flash Fiction, George, Julie, practical joke, short story, Steve, surprise party
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Posted on 02:26, July 24th, 2009 by 
Posted in 
oh that rotter!! you had me going then…..I can just imagine the sorts of things Julie might attempt to get him back.
Your story lead the reader along in a well paced manner – firstly lulling them into the drowsiness which grips even the strongest of us in the last few mins of bed before getting up for work. As it progressed, the languaging and the pace picked up, forcing the reader to leap ahead, heart in mouth as Julie sees her career whizz past.
An enjoyable read.
I weakly attempted poetry this time as I have made a commitment to exploring different writing styles over the next few months. http://annieevett.blogspot.com/2009/07/birthday-s...
Tee hee! I'm now imagining the many ways Julie will get her revenge
Wonderful sense of the back and forth between dread, happiness, terror and revenge! Great read!
Nice piece, swinging us along with her changing emotions. Hopefully she will forgive him his joke in exchange for the necklace.
prankster. surprises take a lot of planning. a lot of effort went into this. great build up to the ending.
Excellent build up and release. Boy, was I ready to hate that HR guy, George. But now I just feel like poor Julie was, well, played like a fiddle. Heck, you told us right there in the title.
Awww. That's sweet! And now I want birthday cake.
Wow, didn't see that one coming. Great job on this. The emotional punch to the gut, then – SURPRISE, Just Kidding! Excellent.
~jon
Very cute…this could really happen.
b
Enjoyed this one, E.D. Especially the ending. Oh, how I want to see what she does to get even. Thank you for sharing.
Not the sort of prank you want to be on the receiving end of in this economic climate. Great stuff.