Micro May Day 8: Price of Failure
This story's prompt was: Size comparison at the office. An employee is going to pay the price of being late.
I was making a dash as fast as I could. Hoping to get to the office of the boss in time. Almost tripping over some co-workers as I get to my destination. I almost jumped inside to save time.
"I'm here, sir!" I shout out, catching my breath.
"You're late again." The fat wild dog huffs as he blows smoke out of a cigar. He had a fat cat personally, and he played the part well. "Do you like your job?"
"Yes, sir."
"Then why are you late again?"
"Well, I got caught up getting all these papers together, and there was a huge line at-"
"I don't care about your excuses; I want results! I've been too lenient with you. So now it's time to pay the price!" He taps his watch, and I feel a chill in the room.
"What was that?" I ask.
"You will see every time you screw up, you will see. Now get out of here."
I ran out, unsure what that threat meant.
***
Over the weeks, I found out what happened. Every time I screwed up, I would get smaller. It didn't matter what it was; I would just shrink down. At least everything would shrink down with me, but it was only a small comfort. I walk into his office. Unable to see over his desk.
"Uh, boss, I got those papers."
"Late again!" He doesn't even face me as I shrink down again.
"That isn't fair! It's much harder for me now to get things."
"Talking back? That isn't right." I shrunk down some more, hardly bigger than the files I was carrying a moment ago. "I think I've been going about this wrong." He gets up and stands over me before picking me up and setting me on the desk with the papers.
"Now you see, you are just about the same size as these files, yet your value is much smaller." He presses his hands down on me softly, and I shrink again. He then traps me with his fingers. "About the same size, but I think it's too big for your new job." He presses down again, and I shrink even more.
He gets something out of his desk; it's a big disk, or so I thought at first I see it's a penny... that I'm smaller than now. "Perfect!" He says using the measurement to see my size. He pulls out something that looks like a string. "Hold this, and don't go if you know what is good for you."
I do what he says, and he lifts me up before putting it around his neck like a necklace. "There you go. Your new job is to be a trinket and an example to your coworkers of what happens when you repeatedly disappoint me. A job so easy even you can do it." He laughs and walks out, ready to show off his newest motivational tool.