A Post on the Corner

A piece of flash fiction about inadequacy.

    His contract could not possibly have been waived. It was the first of the month and rent was due. It was the first of the month and utilities were two weeks past due. Curtis’s living room was quickly becoming a library of overdue bills, arranged with all the neatness of a drunk librarian. “I really should clean this stuff up. Technically, it’s my room now,” he reflected as he looked at the paper disaster. He had been renting out his actual bedroom to a couple of undergrads who had been kicked out of their dorm at the local state school.
     “I’m just as bad as the school. Taking money from these already-broke kids,” he mused with a sarcastic smile. Charging them $900 a month for a single-room seemed a bit high, but it was still much lower than the guys had paid for their double on campus. In any case, their rent payment provided for half of his. A monthly pull from his savings account made up the difference but left him short to cover his other expenses.
     Curtis’s unemployment was a well-kept secret, though. His friends knew about it, spotting him a panini here and a margarita there " not at the same time of course. Curtis just could not face his parents and tell them the truth. Not after they had spent half of their savings to send him to that university 40 minutes down the 101. He had boldly promised his parents to lead the family to the top of a new field: computer security consulting. But, all he had found were a few short-term contracts to upgrade security software at a few local gyms and grocery stores.
     “I can’t even say the name. I don’t even deserve to say the name.” Curtis threw himself face-first onto his makeshift bed and sulked. “Well, at least I can tell people that I work at the Sulk Institute,” he mumbled into his mattress. “Full time and with unlimited PTO, too!” He covered his head with his hands and took a few deep breaths, hoping that his guilt would be exhaled with his carbon dioxide.
     As Curtis rolled over on to his back, he heard a crunch under his backside. “And now I’ve broken something. Smashing.” He reached back and peeled the crushed item off the back pocket of his worn-out chinos. It consisted of tan, edible shards enclosed in a clear wrapper. “A little treat from last night’s takeout food. I’ll indulge.” He popped a few pieces of the pale cookie into his mouth, crunched a couple of times, and promptly spit them out. “Bland as a baby’s Cheerio!” he shouted as he cleared off his tongue. “Hope the fortune is better.”
     Curtis reached for the tiny slip of paper curled up in the crinkled wrapper. He squinted at the small characters to decipher his fortune. ‘Hope softens the rough edge of every promise,’ he slowly read aloud. He considered it for a few seconds, then gave up and laughed incredulously. “I hope that the person who made this was killed,” he joked in his tongue-in-cheek manner. Curtis drifted over to the trash and threw away the little desert, fortune and all.
     He still had two hours before meeting up with his friends to watch the Chinese New Year Parade. They always posted up at the corner of Kearney and California to catch the parade down the last straightaway. Evaluating his options, Curtis strolled to the couch and plopped down. His laptop was on the living room table just an arm’s reach away. Curtis woke up the computer and opened a document that had been untouched for weeks. It was an application that he had been working on to install his security software at a local bank. “Mine as well do something productive with the time,” he thought to himself. Curtis scrolled through his unfinished proposal to get an idea of the remaining work. “I really hope that I get this project,” he confessed as he began the tireless tapping of the keys.

Reviews

[Josie E. Cook M. A.]

This is quite easy to read and follow with some flair here and there and a few chuckles, too.
The end leave me thinking about Curtis and his life--what happened to him?
Almost read to real to be fiction because I can relate it to my current situation.
So, right about those cookies!
Curtis seems like a very creative soul, too.
Nice story.

[Brent]

Glad you enjoyed the piece! Yeah I wrote it in a "slice-of-life" style. Trying to work on longer pieces. It was actually based off the prompt "Hope softens the rough edge of every promise", which is a quote I had to use in it.

Thank you for your insightful comment!

[Josie E. Cook M. A.]

Using prompts is always productive for me.
You're welcome.

[Lynaelee]

I love how relatable this is. You expressed the "glamorous" lifestyle of unemployment and the bitter choices that come with. I love how he clearly has two roads before him: promise of a future or insanity and doubt. Sometimes they collide. Keep up the good work.

[Brent]

Yes the pursuit of our dreams is often unpredictable and scary. Doubt can easily creep into our minds. But, we can persevere just as the people before us have done.

Thank you for your words of encouragement!

[Lynaelee]

You are most welcome. I enjoyed reading it - as well as several other pieces of your work.

[WB]

Brilliant descriptive narrative regarding the fortune cookie. Exactly as intended the reader knew exactly what Curtis had sat on before naming it. Another great line: university 40 minutes up the 101. Hoping you continue, am interested to learn how things unfold for Curtis.

[Brent]

I appreciate your encouragement. Yes, I'm really trying to improve my use of imagery to be realistic but also fun. Your comment is the 2nd looking for a sequel, so I'm considering writing a part 2... Thanks for your review!

[Ayvid N]

The story is written with much flair. No abstracts, easy to read, goes down smoothly and with a nice contemporary taste. I really love the imagery used like bills arranged with the neatness of a drunk librarian or cookies bland as baies' cheerios. I'd love to know if he secured the contract. Is there a sequel coming up?

[Brent]

Wow, thank you for your kind words! This piece of work when I was experimenting with flash fiction. I'm trying to build up to writing short stories, so there may be something in the works with a sequel...