A Tale of Evil and Other Inconveniences
By
Steven Pentecost

We have all heard of the misfortunes of crossing in the paths of black cats and breaking mirrors, but none can compare to the inexplicable yearly occurrences on the Friday before Halloween. Double trouble if that Friday happens to fall on the 13th. Thankfully this is a rare occurrence seeing that Halloween typically isn’t for another two weeks. I digress.

The year was 2010 and although it had started out as a good day; everyone knew in the back of their minds that during the final Friday before Halloween some type of Evil Inconvenience would occur. The only unknown was what misfortune and to whom. This would be the year of the Phantom Menace. Oddly enough the affected party was new to the administrative offices of Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry and unaware of the inherent perils. The victim was a project coordinator, still learning the ropes. The Phantom Menace had been dormant for a year, but had steadily extended his reach, so as to widen his reputation and induce more souls into panic. This poor coordinator, Carlotta, had been diligent in her work and mapped out her timelines with precise attention to conflicts and communications. Her whole process was streamlined for all phases to proceed in perfect harmony. This compulsive attention to detail was the ideal bait to attract the attention of the Phantom. As Carlotta sat sipping her coffee she was oblivious to the shadow that passed over her cubicle. The Phantom was upon her! Once the Phantom has you in his sights your Friday is ruined, no matter what your resilience may be. Her first sign of trouble was her coffee going cold mid sip. She had heard of the Phantom, but hardly believed the stories she had been told. Shrugging off the oddity she poured herself another cup and sat back down at her desk.

As she sat, one of the wheels on her chair decided at that moment to snap, creating an untimely stress factor that prevented her from easily gliding back and forth in her chair. Only slightly startled, Carlotta could not help but notice some of the veterans of the office look at her and mutter among one another with hushed whispers. From that point on they were clearly making an attempt to keep their distance from her. They knew and acknowledged that which Carlotta was still denying. Shrugging it off Carlotta turned in her broken chair, back to her computer to save the notes for the events she had scheduled for the weeks ahead.

Just then she noticed that her mouse was not responding properly. Lifting it she saw that the track ball had become excessively dirty and required cleaning. “Strange,” she thought, “I just cleaned this yesterday.” Again the Shadow passed overhead and caused the fluorescent bulbs above her to flicker and go dim, making her squint to clean. The background chatter suddenly became more audible as people were becoming nervous of the Shadow that had fallen on Carlotta's space. This was a very annoying turn of events as Carlotta did not like being talked about. This resentment was undoubtedly known to the Shadow as it sensed her annoyance and grew stronger.

She completed her cleaning and turned again to her monitor to find that her computer had frozen which required a reboot. SHE HAD NOT SAVED HER WORK! Her hands now trembling with growing fear that the rumors were true, she went to sip her coffee to calm her nerves. Once again her favorite brew had grown stone cold. Quickly setting the cup down, she went to roll back to distance herself from the haunted coffee cup and nearly flipped over when the broken wheel dug into the carpet. For the first time, aside from the problems with the lights, she realized her cubicle was veiled in a shadow. Trembling with fear she could feel the darkness swirling about her. Just then the phone rang with an eerie slow ring. Extending her trembling hand, she slowly picked the handset up and heard a very gruff voice on the other end say, " Carlotta, I’m commandeering your Saturday off for a special project! We’ll expect you at your desk 6 a.m. sharp.”

Without replying, she placed the phone on the desk. A soft evil laugh surrounded her. Scared out of her socks and penny loafers, toes curling in fright, petrified of coming in to work…alone…on a Saturday…she fled the office for a smoke break. Glancing over her shoulder to view the cloud, she slammed into the doorframe. Propelled backwards like a circus performer shot from a canon, she lay dazed and staring at the ceiling tiles. “Is there ozone in the air?” she asked timidly. The face of the office hero, Steve, appeared overhead.

“I think so,” he answered. “Want your socks and shoes?” With a boyish grin he dangled the abandoned items within her view.

The End…For This Year

READER COMMENTS

Bravo! Bravo! - Etienne