Short Stort #7 for 2023 is due today. The prompt is 1852 with a wordcount of 1800 words. Here's my entry.
Anita smiled at her reflection as she finished blotting her
lipstick. She was remembering the story of how, as a child watching her mother
do this, she had misunderstood and characterized the action as “kissing the
tissue goodbye.” Her parents took every opportunity they could find to tell
that story. The frequent retelling had embarrassed Anita when she was younger,
but she had come to appreciate that her family found it so endearing.
Now, dressed for her date and realizing that she had almost an
hour before Nathan would be here, she took her insulated cup of iced tea to her
reading corner to relax and mentally prepare for her night out with her new
friend. She sipped and reflected on how her life had changed in the last month.
*****
Only a month ago, she had begun her new job as Associate
Accountant at Premier Properties, a large firm housed on the 18th
floor of the spectacular Monarch Tower, a new office building in downtown Atlanta.
She was a small-town girl and had been nervous about working in the big city. Navigating
the heavy traffic was a daunting prospect, and she was a little concerned for
her physical safety when walking busy city sidewalks. And a whole new work
environment to learn! But, those early concerns aside, Anita’s first week at
Premier had gone smoothly. It had definitely been very busy with the paperwork
of a new hire, the orientation sessions, meeting all the new co-workers, learning
the expectations of her job, new software, new workspace, new bosses, new
procedures. But she was a fast learner.
She had hardly had time to breathe that first week, and she
had not socialized at all; so she was shocked when she walked into her cubicle
on that second Monday to see a modest-sized, but beautiful, bouquet of wild
flowers on her desk with a card propped in front of it.
“My Mom is the most thoughtful person in the world,” she
thought, her face alight with the affirmation the gift implied. Frances Miller
had been the epitome of the loving mother, giving her daughter freedom to grow but
also guidance to help her avoid the worst potholes of childhood, adolescence,
and early adulthood. So naturally, Anita’s first inclination was to assume that
the flowers were evidence of her mother’s continuing support.
Anita picked up the card.
“New
jobs can be stressful. I hope these flowers will brighten your days.”
It was signed simply “1852.”
Anita blinked in confusion. What could that mean? Why would
Mom sign the card like that? She’d call Mom tonight and see what the signature
meant.
******
“Really?! You didn’t send them? Are you kidding me, Mom?” Anita
talked into the hands-free speaker on her way home from work.
“No. I wish I’d thought of it, Honey. Can’t you think of who
else might have sent them? Wow, Anita, I guess you have a secret admirer! Maybe
it’s someone at your job. What was that signature again? “
“1852”
They brainstormed possibilities as Anita wound her way
through traffic out of the city.
“You must have some idea what that number means!” Frances
commented. “How about phone extensions in your office? Cubicles? Addresses? Why don’t you check that when you get home.
After a fast food dinner she picked up on the way and ate at
the counter in her apartment when she got home, Anita looked through all her
orientation materials and pulled out her copy of the company directory.
Following her mother’s suggestions, she checked to see if the number 1852 came
up in anyone’s address. It didn’t. “Hmmm All the phone extensions are three-digit
numbers. Cubicles? Nope! Two-digit numbers there.” She texted her mom that
those investigations had netted no clues.
There was no social life for Anita that week or even that
weekend. New jobs are SO exhausting! She came straight home, ate dinner, and
crashed every night -- and then almost
slept the weekend away.
Coming out of weekend hibernation, Anita walked into her
cubicle Monday to find a new bouquet on her desk! Again?! This time there were
three perfect yellow roses. Her favorite flower! And there was Baby’s Breath
added - and a sprig of fern and a fluffy white bow. So pretty!
She picked up the card and read, “What a successful first
week you had! Here’s to an even better one!” Again the note was signed “1852.”
Throughout that second week, Anita often glanced at the
flowers as she worked. She smiled. And wondered. She had little time to think
about it while at work, but each night her mom would call to suggest other
possible meanings of the signature. On Thursday, Anita even stayed at work
until nearly seven because her mother thought that the number might reference
the military time of 18:52. As Anita left the eerily-quiet building that
evening, after 6:52 came and went in silence, she swore to just forget the
mystery. Whoever was sending the flowers would let her know when he/she wanted Anita
to know. This staying late thing had been based on a silly theory. What if she
got mugged in the darkening parking garage!
That Saturday, Anita and her college friend, Bridgett, met
up for their monthly catchup. As they leaned together to talk in the noisy coffee
shop, they reminisced about their carefree college days and discussed
Bridgett’s on-again-off-again relationship with her high school boyfriend,
Mason. That relationship had survived the separation of college years, although
none of their friends could understand how. Two people could hardly be more
different than those two. Mason had been a buttoned-down, serious student and
their senior class president, while Bridgett’s life revolved around art, music,
and fashion. She loved flamboyant clothing and vivid make-up. She was the only
girl in their class whose hair was seldom the same color on any given week. Mason
was now a lawyer in his father’s firm in Marietta, a suburb North of Atlanta,
and Bridget was a free-lance designer still struggling to master the logistics
of making her creativity profitable. Still, the couple’s frequent breakups
always ended in reconciliation.
After Bridgett had finished updating Anita on the current
state of hers and Mason’s relationship (hot and heavy right now!), she turned
to Anita with her usual question.
“Any new men in your life?”
“Well, you know I started my new job three weeks ago, so I
haven’t had time for a social life,” Anita hedged.
But Bridgett was spellbound as Anita began telling about her
“secret admirer,” as Mom insisted on calling the flower-sender.
Bridgett, being Bridgett, immediately went into flower-child
mode and began proposing several “out there” possibilities to explain the questionable
signature on the gift cards.
“Hey! You know in the metaphysical realm, Angels are
numbered. When a number comes up in your life, it could be an angel. A lot of
people believe that some numbers are messages from the spiritual universe that
offer insight. They can confirm that you're on the right path, or give invaluable
insight on a complicated situation, or even explain events you experience
throughout your life.”
While Anita looked at her, speechless, Bridgett was
frantically thumbing her phone.
“It says here that Angel #1852 is an encourager. If you see this
angel, the message is about personality development and creativity, suggesting
that your personal growth is strengthening. Hmmm. That’s not much help, is it?
The flowers ARE encouraging, and a new job certainly shows personal growth; but
that doesn’t help figure out who sent those flowers.”
Bridgett’s thumbs began their work again. “Numerology! Why
didn’t I think of that before? Let’s see 1852 reduced down to its base number? 1+8+5+2 is 16. Then 1+6=7. So 7 is the base
number of 1852.”
Bridgett continued to tap at her phone. “Wow, Anita! Seven
is like the best base number you can have! It’s in the Bible as the perfect
number; and it’s a prime number, which means that it has power. It says here
that ‘Number 7 is a true seeker of truth. It represents an inner need to dig
deep to find golden truths…’ ” Her voice trailed off.
“I’ll run that one by Mom,” interrupted Anita. She always
said that 7 is the number of perfection. That was her explanation for why she
and Dad had 7 children. They stopped having children after they reached #7 –
the perfect family.”
As Anita and Bridgett hugged goodbye and each put the date
of their next get-together into their calendars, they agreed that the mystery of
1852 was still just as obscure as it had ever been.
Sunday, at church, Anita managed to forget her job and the
mystery of the flower-sender while she listened to the music and Pastor
Jennings’s inspiring message; but she got a funny feeling afterwards when she talked
briefly with Edward. This young man, just slightly older than she, had begun
attending Anita’s adopted home church in the city just a few months ago. They
had been friendly and talked a little each week after the service but never saw
each other outside church. Today Edward asked how her new job was going, but he
certainly didn’t seem overly interested.
Hmmm…
When Anita arrived at work Monday morning, she was almost
afraid to walk into her cubicle. She actually closed her eyes as she stepped
through the opening, afraid she wouldn’t see the bouquet she had begun to expect
on her desk.
When she opened her eyes, there, beside her computer, was
the most beautiful artisanal pottery bowl holding a live purple amaryllis! The
colors of the flower and the pottery that held it were so aesthetically
complementary, it took her breath away!
Anita’s phone dinged, drawing her eyes away from the flowers
for a minute. She looked down to read a text from her Mom.
“Good Morning, Baby. I hope you have a great day. About the
mystery. I was just thinking could the number be broken up into two numbers?
Could it be 18 and 52 for example? Just a thought. I love you.”
Anita put her phone away and picked up the card propped in
front of the pretty pottery bowl.
“Happy Monday, Anita! How about dropping by my cubicle (#52)
during your break, so we can finally meet.”
Looking closely at the signature, 1852, Anita noticed for
the first time that there was the tiniest of dots between the 8 and the 5.
*****
And, as they say, the rest is history.
Tonight Anita is sitting in her reading corner sipping iced
tea and remembering how she met Nathan, her new friend who works on the 18th
floor, cubicle 52 of the Monarch Tower.
The doorbell rings.
She opens the door to her date, and the story of Anita and
Nathan begins.
3 comments:
I love this story!
Thanks, Carol! Abrupt ending, huh?
I love it! Very clever!!! Janice!!
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