From the General Fiction profile: Aim to Engage: Find a Book, any book! and write a story starting with the last line of that book. I used A Binding Spell by Elizabeth Arthur, 1988. This flash is 466 words, an all-time record low for me. Whoot!
*&*
For a moment, just for a moment, he felt the awesome dimensions of the universe and held his breath like a secret in his mouth. Then the moment passed and the view changed. The train entered a tunnel, down from the elevated tracks and their sweeping vistas into to the bowels of the city. That view, though, it could buoy a man all day. Through conference calls, team meetings and low sales metrics. And Jared, even through pathetic Jared, rambling on in the seat next to him.
While Jared prattled his latest humblebrag, Mike closed his eyes and reimagined the vanished vista. The dawn of a not quite broken morning tinted everything blue. Quiet and perfect. In that moment the possibilities of the day were still pristine.
Serenity, even the tiny piece that he harvested from the train window, had its downsides. People noticed. They asked him how he kept his cool. They came to him for advice, the Yoda of the office. He hated other people's problems, but his mother had raised him right. He didn't have the heart to turn them away.
"So what do you think, man?" Jared asked.
"What? Sorry, I was dozing," Mike lied.
"I was telling you about Cynthia from Accounting. I want to take her sister to the company Christmas party. Will she be weird about it?"
Mike stared at him and blinked. This? This was what went on in the mind of supposedly the greatest salesman their company had seen in the last twenty years? The train jostled over a bump while Mike tried to formulate an answer.
"I don't know how you do it, man." Jared prattled on, not noticing Mike's hesitation.. "The women, they flock to you. You could lay a different one every week, but you just make friends out of them all. Hey, what did Cynthia say about me when we broke up?"
"That's been a while. A lot has happened since then." Mike was good at stalling. He certainly practiced frequently with potential clients when they wanted technical data that he didn't have and wouldn't understand even if he did.
"You're so right. She probably doesn't even remember that we were a thing last summer. You're a genius! Thanks man!" Jared's grin faded as Mike stood. "This isn't our stop."
"I'm going to walk. Need some exercise." Mike shook Jared's hand. "See you in the office."
"Hey, I should probably exercise too." Jared patted his ten-years younger, still flat belly. "Sometime I'll come with you. You've got it all goin' on."
"Right. Good luck with Cynthia's sister."
Mike slid out just before the train left and headed up to street level. Maybe he'd catch a tiny glimpse of the Universe peeking out between the buildings before his day settled irretrievably into the banal.
