Business as Usual
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I figured I'd post this short story I wrote yesterday before I head off to work, so enjoy!
Spoiler alert - this story is depressing. I recommend reading only if you think you can handle some depressing stuff. But there is a good moral at the end for those of you who read on.
Business as usual:
It was a calm, breezy day in late August. Summer was nearing its end. The leaves of the various deciduous trees were starting to turn to different colors. The leaves were red, orange and yellow, a combination of elegant beauty that symbolizes the death of one season, and the birth of another. At the end of fall, the trees will hibernate, free of leaves until spring, reserving their energy so that their leaves may grow green once more. Several of these beautiful trees and their tall oaken trunks lined a busy street, paved with bricks and concrete slabs.
The bustling of businessmen, the tarrying of farmer’s market stalls, and the roar of vehicles kept the city noisy all throughout the day. Even at night, the city was pretty busy, with many restaurants and shops open 24 hours per day. The city was surely a place full of busy people, and among them, was a 23-year old salary man working at an administrative office in one of the newer skyscrapers. His job was to ensure that the tasks assigned to his subordinates are finished on time, and also to improve the marketing techniques of the company.
He also served as an entrepreneur of sorts, but worked from the inside to the outside, finding innovative, yet promising ways to ensure the future success of his company. He was an asset that is neither extremely valuable nor completely dispensable – he stood in the middle ground of the company, a stable place where he felt that as long as he kept using his skills to the best of his abilities, and making successes happen in the company, his position would be secure. However, he didn't count on his recent successes earning him the scorn of a number of his co-workers. They created a scandal to remove him.
By ruining the man’s reputation, they effectively nullified the results of his hard work, and the man was soon relieved of his position, to even find himself unemployed, after only a few months beyond his demotion. The scandal created by his envious co-workers was entirely false, but the effects it had on his life were real enough. He now had no job, and could expect no further pay checks. This meant that paying his rather immodest living expenses would be entirely impossible from now on, and he would have to severely downsize even if he found a new job.
The man thought of possible solutions, but he then remembered something – he had bought a life insurance policy for himself a few years back, to be given to his only daughter should he die of accidental or natural causes. So he decided it was time to help her collect. He sent his daughter, who lived with his ex-wife, a cryptic text message, telling her that she would be better off with her mother after all, and that she should call the phone number he provided in the text message, if anything unfortunate should happen to him.
The man went to the subway that night, and picked a fight with some random stranger he didn't know, struggling with them while waiting for the next train to arrive. As soon as he noticed the next train was close, he shoved the stranger around to get a rise out of him. The stranger shoved him back, and the man fell onto the tracks. It was too late to stop the train, and the man was minced up by the train’s wheels as they glided through his flesh. The subway security had just arrived on the scene, but it was too late. The man had died in a train accident; being shoved by the stranger he fought with moments ago.
But his dying wish was granted, because his daughter ended up receiving the life insurance policy he bought for himself, and the 10 million yen policy was used to fund the crematory ceremony, as well as the funeral. But it didn't stop there – his daughter was able to graduate from the top of her classes without worrying about money, at Tokyo University, with a Master’s degree in Education, and eventually went on to be a successful musical arts teacher at Sophia University, another prestigious university in Japan. While her father’s death was not in vain, it occasionally haunted her, giving her nightmares.
Would things have really been different if not for her father’s death? She could have still worked hard and graduated from the top of her classes, and paid for her education with the scholarships she would have earned from being a successful student. She would have still be able to become a successful musical arts teacher, except that if her father hadn't died, he might have been witness to her graduation, and the rest of her life’s proudest moments, in which she wished he could have shared. This truly begs the question – was the man’s death really necessary? Did he really die for a noble cause?
That part is up to you, and the rest of the world, to decide among yourselves.
Spoiler alert - this story is depressing. I recommend reading only if you think you can handle some depressing stuff. But there is a good moral at the end for those of you who read on.
Business as usual:
It was a calm, breezy day in late August. Summer was nearing its end. The leaves of the various deciduous trees were starting to turn to different colors. The leaves were red, orange and yellow, a combination of elegant beauty that symbolizes the death of one season, and the birth of another. At the end of fall, the trees will hibernate, free of leaves until spring, reserving their energy so that their leaves may grow green once more. Several of these beautiful trees and their tall oaken trunks lined a busy street, paved with bricks and concrete slabs.
The bustling of businessmen, the tarrying of farmer’s market stalls, and the roar of vehicles kept the city noisy all throughout the day. Even at night, the city was pretty busy, with many restaurants and shops open 24 hours per day. The city was surely a place full of busy people, and among them, was a 23-year old salary man working at an administrative office in one of the newer skyscrapers. His job was to ensure that the tasks assigned to his subordinates are finished on time, and also to improve the marketing techniques of the company.
He also served as an entrepreneur of sorts, but worked from the inside to the outside, finding innovative, yet promising ways to ensure the future success of his company. He was an asset that is neither extremely valuable nor completely dispensable – he stood in the middle ground of the company, a stable place where he felt that as long as he kept using his skills to the best of his abilities, and making successes happen in the company, his position would be secure. However, he didn't count on his recent successes earning him the scorn of a number of his co-workers. They created a scandal to remove him.
By ruining the man’s reputation, they effectively nullified the results of his hard work, and the man was soon relieved of his position, to even find himself unemployed, after only a few months beyond his demotion. The scandal created by his envious co-workers was entirely false, but the effects it had on his life were real enough. He now had no job, and could expect no further pay checks. This meant that paying his rather immodest living expenses would be entirely impossible from now on, and he would have to severely downsize even if he found a new job.
The man thought of possible solutions, but he then remembered something – he had bought a life insurance policy for himself a few years back, to be given to his only daughter should he die of accidental or natural causes. So he decided it was time to help her collect. He sent his daughter, who lived with his ex-wife, a cryptic text message, telling her that she would be better off with her mother after all, and that she should call the phone number he provided in the text message, if anything unfortunate should happen to him.
The man went to the subway that night, and picked a fight with some random stranger he didn't know, struggling with them while waiting for the next train to arrive. As soon as he noticed the next train was close, he shoved the stranger around to get a rise out of him. The stranger shoved him back, and the man fell onto the tracks. It was too late to stop the train, and the man was minced up by the train’s wheels as they glided through his flesh. The subway security had just arrived on the scene, but it was too late. The man had died in a train accident; being shoved by the stranger he fought with moments ago.
But his dying wish was granted, because his daughter ended up receiving the life insurance policy he bought for himself, and the 10 million yen policy was used to fund the crematory ceremony, as well as the funeral. But it didn't stop there – his daughter was able to graduate from the top of her classes without worrying about money, at Tokyo University, with a Master’s degree in Education, and eventually went on to be a successful musical arts teacher at Sophia University, another prestigious university in Japan. While her father’s death was not in vain, it occasionally haunted her, giving her nightmares.
Would things have really been different if not for her father’s death? She could have still worked hard and graduated from the top of her classes, and paid for her education with the scholarships she would have earned from being a successful student. She would have still be able to become a successful musical arts teacher, except that if her father hadn't died, he might have been witness to her graduation, and the rest of her life’s proudest moments, in which she wished he could have shared. This truly begs the question – was the man’s death really necessary? Did he really die for a noble cause?
That part is up to you, and the rest of the world, to decide among yourselves.
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leonard267
FAKKU Non-Writer
Well written and what is more I can understand it! I cannot understand quite a lot of, albeit well written, fantasy writing on this forum because I don't understand the universe behind it. However, I am familiar with insurance abuse, I am familiar with the city which made reading much easier.
I have a few questions though:
Was the person who got himself run over by a train really 23? That is my age and I am still at school! How long has that person been working I wonder?
Why the title, I wonder? I think it depends on the writer and I would like to know what inspired the title. I would, in line with my writing style, give it something much, much drier like "Insurance Abuse" or "A Train Accident".
Why set the story in Japan? Was it inspired by what you have read in Japan? Are you in Japan? I am very interested on why it is written the way it is.
I am sure d would come here and post
and I could nitpick tiny grammatical errors (I am sure you do the same to almost anything I write) but it was a good read because I understood it, I can connect with it. What remains now, and I know it cannot be done in your story, is to find out why you have written it and why in that fashion.
ED: Can I have more of these short stories?
I have a few questions though:
Was the person who got himself run over by a train really 23? That is my age and I am still at school! How long has that person been working I wonder?
Why the title, I wonder? I think it depends on the writer and I would like to know what inspired the title. I would, in line with my writing style, give it something much, much drier like "Insurance Abuse" or "A Train Accident".
Why set the story in Japan? Was it inspired by what you have read in Japan? Are you in Japan? I am very interested on why it is written the way it is.
I am sure d would come here and post
They created a scandal to remove him.
and I could nitpick tiny grammatical errors (I am sure you do the same to almost anything I write) but it was a good read because I understood it, I can connect with it. What remains now, and I know it cannot be done in your story, is to find out why you have written it and why in that fashion.
ED: Can I have more of these short stories?
0
This is interesting. At first I was kind of turned off by the seemingly random series of descriptors, I kind of understood.
He's just the average joe and just one of a million. I do say that I like how you involved the reader into this- the guy just goes kaput. As a reader, you're like, "WTF MATE."
Nope, not the end of the story. The truth is, the story ends whenever the story ends kind of thing- at least for me. Was the father's death necessary? Who knows? He had his own achievements in life, his wants, and needs. So does his daughter. We all have wants and needs and sometimes, one has to sacrifice them for family (as with all parents do at some point).
Good job man.
On a side note, I also want to know why this is Japan- it's not really relevant to the story... and we're all English speakers here...
There are a few grammatical mistakes here and there and the overall flow is a bit rushed, but that's how I personally feel about it-
He's just the average joe and just one of a million. I do say that I like how you involved the reader into this- the guy just goes kaput. As a reader, you're like, "WTF MATE."
Nope, not the end of the story. The truth is, the story ends whenever the story ends kind of thing- at least for me. Was the father's death necessary? Who knows? He had his own achievements in life, his wants, and needs. So does his daughter. We all have wants and needs and sometimes, one has to sacrifice them for family (as with all parents do at some point).
Good job man.
On a side note, I also want to know why this is Japan- it's not really relevant to the story... and we're all English speakers here...
There are a few grammatical mistakes here and there and the overall flow is a bit rushed, but that's how I personally feel about it-
