12 comments

Fiction

This story contains sensitive content

TW: This story alludes to a mass shooting.


The vehicles are packed together so tightly we only move a few feet anytime it starts. A sign flashes to my left “expect traffic delays.” Yeah, no shit. I look at the time displayed on my car stereo, the only part that works unfortunately. The time says 9:05. I’m already late. Boss isn’t going to like it, but what can you do? Maybe if I cuss out the hundred cars surrounding me the line will start moving.

I consider exiting the freeway and attempting to get to the office by an alternate route. Would that be faster? Maybe. But I’m in the middle lane. Getting over to the rightmost lane will be… difficult. That and the next exit isn’t for two miles. I do a mental calculation of how long it’s going to take me to travel two miles when I only move about five feet every time I move. The math isn’t looking great.

My cell rings. I guess I could have called them when I first got stuck, but back then I was more hopeful that it was a temporary setback, a few minutes delay at most. I reach over and grab it. The person in the car next to me gives me a dirty look. Come on, it’s not like we’re moving fast or at all. I’d use handsfree if I had it.

“Yeah. I’m on the I90. Not really, no. Could try the next exit and see if it’s faster going a back route. Oh I hope so. Thanks for being so understanding.”

My boss is a peach. He said I’ve got an hour before he writes me off as a no-show. And me stuck in traffic like a bitch. Maybe he’s mad I didn’t call before my shift was supposed to start. Probably that. If you get wrote up three times you’re fired. I’ve already got one. Probably another for this and a day’s work missed. But that’s only if I can’t make it in an hour. I consider abandoning my vehicle and trying to make a mad dash. Probably not a good idea. I honestly don’t even know if I could make it on foot within an hour.

By the time I’ve managed to squeeze between cars to get to the exit lane, we are already past the one that was two miles away and it’s another mile before we get to the next. Then that exit is blocked off. This day is the worst. I don’t even have a radio to keep me company. I guess I could try using my phone, but the speakers aren’t very loud so all I’d be able to hear would be a faint buzzing that sounds vaguely musical.

I finally reach an exit at 9:20. Fifteen down, forty-five to go. I Grab my phone and ask it for alternate routes to my job. The app tells me I will arrive at 10:10. Five minutes too late. I look at the interstate. Maybe I’ll get lucky and get there faster than the app predicts. I have to try. There is less traffic along the side route, but it isn’t non-existent. I find myself getting particularly flustered when a vehicle in front of me fails to start moving immediately when the light changes to green. Come on.

The next time I’m stopped at a stop light, I take a chance and call my boss. Except, he’s not picking up. Must be busy. Damn. Just my luck. Maybe I should just stop trying to make it. Maybe this is the universe’s way of telling me to quit already. The job stresses me out anyway. I understand that part of it is because we have fewer employees to work now, but for some odd reason we keep laying off perfectly good employees for dumb reasons. I could be the next one on that chopping block. Imagine letting someone go because they got stuck in traffic. Boss will say if I’d left the house sooner, I’d have made it in time. Maybe. I doubt it, but maybe.

Last week he let someone go because they called in sick but didn’t bring a doctor’s note. Like you’re not going to go to the doctor every time you get sick. Most people can’t afford that. Problem was, boss didn’t believe them. Thought they just wanted an excuse to miss work. Like wouldn’t we all love an excuse to miss work, but I don’t think that’s what happened. Since I can’t get him on the phone, I’ll just try my best to sweet talk him when I get there. Maybe he’ll be okay with it if I stay extra time without pay to make up for the time I missed.

What am I even saying? I don’t like the job and I’m willing to stay extra without pay just to appease the boss so he won’t fire me? But I need the job. I can’t afford to lose it. Not without another lined up, anyway. What’s wrong with me? Why haven’t I been looking? I’ve just been skating along at that job, stressful though it is. When I hit three lights in a row that are green without changing, I think my luck has finally taken a turn for the better. But that’s before I find out that one of the streets my app is directing me to is closed off because of an accident. The alternate route to that puts me even later. Maybe I’d be there by now if I’d stayed on the I90. I feel my stomach tie itself into knots as the clock flips over to 10:05. I am officially getting written up as a no-show.

For whatever reason, I don’t decide to just screw off for the rest of the day. I continue to the parking lot of my job. When I round the corner approaching it, there are red and blue lights. Someone got pulled over? Great. They’re blocking my entrance. I try to find another place to park. I try calling the boss again. Still no answer. That’s weird. The parking lot is blocked off. How are they that busy? Then I start getting a bad feeling. I feed the meter where I parked. I’ll move it as soon as I have a chance, but right now the most important thing is that I make it to work.

A policeman stops me. “You can’t go in there.”

“Why not? I work there.”

“It’s a crime scene. Disgruntled employee shot the place up. We stopped him, but it’s pretty bad.” My knees grow weak and threaten to collapse from underneath me. A news van pulls up.

“What happened here?” The reporter asks me. I shake my head.

“I was late to work.”

July 20, 2022 14:51

You must sign up or log in to submit a comment.

12 comments

Naomi Onyeanakwe
17:50 Jul 20, 2022

Crazyyyy! Omg, I can't even imagine. Crazy! Omgggg. This was really good. I loved LOVED the ending, just perfect how it ended with that one simple line. I also liked that the story was short and to the point. This was a good read, as your stories usually are. Anddd... You responded to three prompts (so far) this week, that's very impressive, my brain can hardly handle one story. Thanks for sharing and well done, I really really like your work.

Reply

L. E. Scott
17:53 Jul 20, 2022

Thank you. Glad you liked it.

Reply

Naomi Onyeanakwe
18:09 Jul 20, 2022

You're welcome 🙃 I would appreciate it if you could kindly check out my entry for this week that I just posted some minutes ago. Thank you!

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Show 1 reply
Graham Kinross
12:10 Aug 10, 2022

Damn they were lucky. There are always weird stories like that, like people who missed their flight for the planes on 9/11. Getting to work feels like a big deal and then suddenly it’s nothing.

Reply

Show 0 replies
Emma G.
21:31 Jul 27, 2022

Oh wow the ending was something that I didn't see coming. Goes to show sometimes the universe is looking out for you even if you cant understand it in the moment. The writing flowed well and you did a good job of keeping me invested even though the majority of the story was the narrator being stuck in the car. One note I will say is you probably don't need to add the word "like" at the beginning of some sentences. Even though its very natural to use that in conversation, sometimes descriptive writing doesn't need it! Overall great work :)

Reply

L. E. Scott
03:48 Jul 28, 2022

If you liked this one, check out "on time" to learn what would have happened if my mc had made it to work that day.

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Michał Przywara
21:02 Jul 26, 2022

Great twist! The story leading up to it was already interesting, and a struggle I'm sure many can relate to. We do things we hate, because we have to do them. And then we ask ourselves why we put ourselves through it, and why we haven't started looking for another option yesterday. And then when we try harder anyway, we get crapped on and it still doesn't work out. Stress stress stress. And it's not like traffic is in our control, so it's an irrational thing to beat ourselves up about. And then the twist! Great contrast between the sma...

Reply

L. E. Scott
18:40 Jul 29, 2022

Thank you for reading. Glad you liked it.

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
17:31 Jul 22, 2022

No wayyyy, I loved this. It's so cool because you did such a good job of keeping us stuck in the car with the narrator, that we were also just desperate to arrive at the job. in retrospect, the behaviour of the boss and the punishment of that sick employee (who may or may not be the shooter, I don't know) were warning signs to a spilling over of tension- tension that we were initially feeling because of being stuck in traffic, not a potential shooter. I'm not sure if that made too much sense, but yeah, this was lit.

Reply

L. E. Scott
17:49 Jul 22, 2022

Glad you liked it. I wrote the follow-up "On Time" because a co-worker requested a continuation and the current prompt gave me inspiration to show what might have happened if MC had made it to work on time that day.

Reply

19:06 Jul 22, 2022

Yeah, I read it. I thought it was very interestingly written. I loved the parallels, and I think you did well with fitting it in the sci-fi theme.

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Show 1 reply
Ananya Ojha
19:31 Jul 20, 2022

Oh! By the culmination of this story, my jaw was hanging down...never expected that sort of ending.....

Reply

Show 0 replies
RBE | We made a writing app for you (photo) | 2023-02

We made a writing app for you

Yes, you! Write. Format. Export for ebook and print. 100% free, always.