Pointing to the sky. Not just one or two but a whole forest of trees had shed their leaves. The colder days. The shorter sun lite hours. Time to sleep until Springs sunlight shines on their barren branches.
The winter sun is slowly fading away. Five geese fly barely missing the pointed branches. They fly toward me. They make a wide u turn, circling back to where they came.
A haunting coldness touches my bones. Another hour before I must forego my warm office space. The drive home is expected to be uneventful. But those trees are looking in the window telling me something different.
I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn and look. It is Jake. Not the one from State Farm. “The boss wants to see you in his office.” He says.
Rising from my chair to walk to the boss’s office. I get only a couple steps. I stop, turn, and go back to my workstation. I press the Windows key and the ‘L’ key. That locks my computer. Company policy you know.
I continue my journey to the boss’s office. My boss has his office on the same side of the building as I do. His windows looks out on those same naked trees.
Standing in my boss’s open door, I see him standing, looking out at the same naked trees. I knock on his door facing. He turns and motions me to enter.
“I understand you want to see me” I said.
“Those naked trees look unusually haunting tonight.”
I nod in agreement.
“Do you know what they are saying?”
“No, I don’t.”
“They must know what I am going to tell you.”
Standing on the opposite side of the desk. I take a deep breath. I just stand there waiting for the worse.
“Sales have been slow. I am going to have to cut back on your hours. Go home early tonight and spend some time with your family.”
In a state of shock, I turn and walk back to my desk. I don’t sit down. I just grab my water bottle and walk out the door.
I take the elevator down to parking garage. Sitting inside my car, I paused. Turning the key to the ignition the car starts. I put it in reverse. I back out of my space. Forward to the exit I drive.
From the parking garage, on to the street. I turn right. I got two blocks, when I felt the back window implode. Instinctively, I looked in my rear-view mirror. Fragments of different materials flying out of the of the billowing smoke.
Something in the factory caused an explosion. Was this what those naked trees trying to tell me and my boss? It was a good thing that he had sent me home early. That explosion had reduced that little fireworks factory into pile of rubble.
Hits: 230