Flash Fiction: 209 words
What is flash fiction?
Peggy Square is a hard worker—she has to be.
Peggy is employed by Round Hole Manufacturing. She is an engineer in the custom fittings department.
The temperature in the shop is unbearably hot today. Friction from the various pressing, hammering, and twisting processes has smoke and steam swirling about. In the shadows, an angry sprinkler system contemplates an end to the day’s productivity.
Peggy’s boss, Mr. Rammerjammer, yells out in distress, “We need more power! Push harder! We have to make it fit!” Peggy, anxious to gain the favor of her boss, twists the dial on the fitting machine to maximum, causing the pressure to build, the relief valve screaming for attention.
Company President, Ms. Hardway is conducting a tour of the state-of-the-art facilities. Her leadership is notable. She knows the importance of doing things the same way they have always been done.
Back on the dock, the Raw Materials Purchasing Manager, Mr. Stuckey, is retiring today after 62 years of service. He is 98 years young. It won’t be the same around here without him. The new manager starts tomorrow, and rumor has it that he will bring some radical and controversial ideas relative to round pegs.
Meanwhile, a new shipment of square pegs has just arrived…