[Exercise] 1/99 Ways to Tell a Story - Template

The clock hand moved slowly. It seemed like the later in the week it was, the longer it took for an hour to pass by. And, with today being Friday, the hour stretched as long as possible without stopping time itself. When 4:16 finally came around, Eddie didn’t care whether or not he was supposed to be at his desk until 5. He was bored, and no one could stop him from leaving early.

As he walked past the secretary at the front desk, he gave a brief wave. He’d managed to park fairly close to the door this morning, so it was only a matter of minutes before he unlocked the driver’s side door and slid in.

The key slid into the ignition with a quick click. He smiled as he turned it, ready for the feeling of freedom he got from driving. A large click sounded, followed by silence. He frowned and turned the key again. Still nothing. He turned the key several more times, jerking it more and more violently each time.

After one last, rapid jerk, he screamed and slammed the palm of his hand into the steering wheel. “Stupid fucking car,” he yelled. His anger still not quelled, he gripped the steering wheel with both hands and shook it, yelling indiscernible strings of swears.

His yelling wasn’t loud enough to drown out the sound of a heavy knock on his side window. Eddie froze and looked out the window. Standing outside was Mr. Riddles, his boss. Eddie had always considered him a stuffy man who was more interested in exercising his power over his workers rather than the work they actually did.

Eddie opened the door, blood rushing to his cheeks. “Hello, Johnson,” he said. He always referred to his workers by their last name. Eddie figured it was a small way of reminding them that he was in charge. “Need a jump?”

He was offering to help Eddie out. In fact, it had been the first decently nice thing he’d ever said to him.

/r/shutupandwrite Thread