Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Spread your wings




It wasn't the work she minded, she'd always believed that work was a good thing. There's nothing quite like the satisfaction that comes from a good day's work; she'd always loved tidying up her desk at the end of the day, filing a few stray papers; returning the last emails, and scheduling tomorrow's calls.

No, it wasn't the work.

It was the atmosphere of the place. She'd joined this company a few weeks after it was started, and had enjoyed watching it grow and become successful. But somewhere along the way, things had changed. She remembered staff meetings where they'd gleefully posted pins in a map to represent new installations; the champagne brunches to mark milestones reached ahead of schedule. But now, the owner had lost all joy in their success; he was afraid of losing what they'd created.

He haunted the halls, listening to conversations, stirring up suspicions, upsetting the kids in the mailroom with his tantrums. Senior people began to disappear; one at a time at first, and then in droves. She didn't want to leave the nest; she wanted things to be the way they were, even as she carried the last box to her car.

© 2007 Cynthia Newcomer Daniel

Sterling silver, opal, white sapphire. Hand fabricated.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You are as good of a writer as you are a jewelry creator. It's not often I get tears in my eyes from a story about a complete stranger. Loved the story and the earrings are absolutely gorgeous!!