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Friday, October 16, 2015

An Early State Secret

In the most important room
In a newborn nation
A great man
Unlocked the most curious drawer
Of an enormous desk

From the depths of the drawer, gently he lifted
A slick black contraption

He placed it gingerly before him
Paused (perhaps to pray)
And then lifted an appendage of the gadget to his ear

A finger more accustomed to squeezing triggers
He poked into an alien groove

Slowly, carefully, he moved his hand in a circle
Activating the device

Disconcerting sounds filled his ear
He closed his eyes
Then came the voice - high pitched, brisk

"Operator."

"I need... help," said the man shakily.

"How may I direct your call?"

"It's... It's these teeth, you see. The wood..."

"How may I direct your call, sir?"

"I was thinking maybe if some teeth could be made of... whatever this... this infernal device... is made of... perhaps..."

"Sir... I need the number or the name of the party you wish to reach."

"It's these damned wooden teeth!"

The man jerked his red face to the door 
Whereupon a strident knocking
Had ensued 

In a frenzied moment, he swept the device
Back into its drawer

As he keyed the lock
His wig askew
The door burst open

"President Washington, are you... Do you need assistance?"



9 comments:

  1. Bakelite teeth - that would have been something.. A truly black smile.

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  2. This was a great response to FB's prompt -- who's calling on that device? I first thought of a Cold War era president lifting the receiver of the phone to scramble the ICBMs; turns out it was George calling to gripe about his wood choppers. Who will call next?

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  3. You created an amazing sense of mystery and anticipation in the build up to the conversation and described the use of the phone very well.

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  4. I can't imagine wooden teeth...such a creative take on the prompt

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  5. This was a really cool response to the prompt. So imaginative......

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  6. Fun narrative story. I had forgotten about those wooden teeth and half expected a transport ala the Matrix. Love it!

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  7. Laffin here. This is classic, and the wig askew is the perfect detail.

    ReplyDelete

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