The lines of traffic seemed endless. Fumes from hundreds of exhaust pipes choked the air surrounding Anthony Peccari as he brooded in his idling blue Ford Ranger. His normally slick blonde hair stuck up in odd places, his dress shirt was untucked and rumpled, his suit jacket tossed carelessly on the passenger seat. A blast from the car horn next to him jerks him back to reality. Mindlessly glancing up at the red light, he let his thoughts drift back once again to when he had received the devastating news that afternoon. It had started out as any other day at the newspaper office. Scrolling through his emails, he had noticed a shadow fall across his desk. Looking up, his eyes met those of his boss, a balding, middle-aged man, wearing a gray suit jacket, with a strip of a white dress shirt stretched tightly over a rotund stomach peeking out between the lapels. A feeling of foreboding crept over Anthony’s senses, so what happened next was a blur. All he could remember was a terrible numbness taking hold of his brain and a cold shock shooting down his spine as he felt the words “downsizing,” “letting you go,” and “pack up your office” hit him like a ton of bricks.
Even now, while sitting in traffic in the middle of the city, he felt as if a mighty force was running into him and his whole world was spinning like an out of control merry-go-round. The sound of sirens and someone talking to him brought him back to the present. He was on his back on the hard asphalt, staring up at the sky. Well, it would’ve been the sky if a paramedics’ face weren’t blocking the view. Slowly fading back into unconsciousness, the words she had been trying to say to him came through in bits and pieces: “accident,” “red light,” broken leg.” His last thought before he gave in to the darkness was “Well, at least I don’t have to worry about going into work tomorrow.”
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September 13, 2011 at 8:15 pm
Whoa.. that’s deep… Good writing though.. liked all the descriptiveness:)
September 13, 2011 at 10:05 pm
I enjoyed this. Thanks for posting it.
September 23, 2011 at 11:35 pm
Really liked it Anna… thus says your favorite sister and grandmother:) love ya