Friday Flash Fiction
  • Home
    • About Friday Flash Fiction
  • 100-Word Stories
  • Longer Stories
  • Poetry
  • Authors
    • A-C
    • D-F
    • G-I
    • J-L
    • M-O
    • P-R
    • S-V
    • W-Z
  • Submissions
    • 100-Word Submissions
    • 500-Word Submissions
    • Poetry Submissions
    • How to complete the Entry Form
    • Writing Good Flash Fiction
    • Contact FFF
    • Appeals/Feedback Request
    • Technical Stuff >
      • Terms & Conditions
      • GDPR Compliance
      • Duotrope

The Promotion, by Ron Autrey

14/9/2018

 
Henry crashed noisily through the door and into the office of Mr. John Bergstrum, his wife's supervisor. The seated man glanced up to see Henry standing in front of his desk with a gun in his shaking hands. It was obvious that the man was emotionally distraught.
The supervisor sat, trying to anticipate what the next action might be as Henry began his tirade.
"You have been harassing my wife!", Henry accused .
John Berstrum was not one to be easily intimidated. "And who is your wife, sir?" he asked calmly.
"You know who she is!" Henry fairly screamed. "She is in your secretarial pool.....her name is Laura Cummings!"
Berstrum drew a slow breath. "I'm sorry, sir, but I do not know the names of all the girls in my secretarial pool. I have spoken to some of them - but only in greeting."
"She said that you........!" the irate man began.
"May I stand?" Bergstrum interrupted.
Henry hesitated as he struggled to gather his thoughts. "Yeah....sure....he said, distracted. "But don't you try nothing!"
A slight smile traced the big man's lips as he rose to his feet. "Obviously," he began, "there has been some sort of misunderstanding. I assure you, sir, I do not know your wife.....and I have never even flirted with any of the girls in my office. I am a happily married man."
"But she said !" Henry blurted out.
"Just a misunderstanding, son," Bergstrum said with a Sympathetic tone in his voice. "To my knowledge, I have never spoken to your wife."
Henry could hardly control his emotions. "My wife said that you were coming on to her.... and you touched her several times!"
Bergstrum screwed up his face in a frown. ""It couldn't have been me, son. Now.....please give me the gun before you get into serious trouble."
Henry hesitated as the supervisor held out his hand.
"Please, just give me the gun and you can go on your way. I will say nothing about this. And I will find out who has been bothering your wife and I will fire them. You have my word."
Bergstrum waited calmly as Henry pondered his predicament. After the angry husband considered the request for a long moment, he reluctantly placed the weapon in the big man's hand. "What are you going to do?" he asked humbly, feeling a bit dizzy from the experience.
John Bergstrum laughed. "Well, you idiot, I am going to kill you, of course!"
"What.....?" Henry gasped.
The big man was near ecstatic at his prospects. "Yes, I harassed your poor wife.....mercilessly, just so you would be stupid enough to walk in here with a gun in your hand!"
"But....why?" Henry was confused.
"Because....idiot, a big promotion is coming up and I need to look good to the company. I can just see the headlines; 'HERO BOSS SHOOTS ATTACKER WITH HIS OWN GUN."
​
Jane Nagy
16/9/2018 01:01:49 am

I had not a clue that the ending would be like that. Very clever!!!!


Comments are closed.

    Longer
    Stories

    Longer Friday Flash Fiction Stories

    Friday Flash Fiction is primarily a site for stories of 100 words or fewer, and our authors are expected to take on that challenge if they possibly can. Most stories of under 150 words can be trimmed and we do not accept submissions of 101-150 words.


    However, in response to demand, the FFF team constructed this forum for significantly longer stories of 151-500 words. Please send submissions for these using the Submissions Page.

    Stories to the 500 word thread will be posted as soon as we can mange.

    Picture

    One little further note. Posting and publishing 500-word stories takes a little time if they need to be formatted, too.
    ​Please note that we tend to post longer flash fiction exactly as we find it – wrong spacing, everything.

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014

Picture
Website by Platform 36