HOURS

“Thank you for all your hard work, Jen!”, was all I heard every single gurling day of every work week.

My job was exhausting and relentless. The work on my desk piled up faster than I could complete it.

The phone constantly rang, the knocks on my door never stopped, and don’t dare for a second be seen in the hall.

“Jen, I need this! Jen, I need that! Jen, when can you get me that report?”

Not to mention, I already have 3 reports, 2 deadlines for a records request, 45 appointments, on top of 3 meetings, while praying you get a lunch break and time to pee. I wish they would leave me alone.  

I felt stretched thin. Not even human at times. So, I turned to writing for help. Writing releases a lot of stress. It was my gateway to escape the world. Even if I wrote for 5 mins, it was the best 5 mins ever. Like a breath of fresh air.

I closed and locked my office door and proceeded to grab my pen and notebook from my book bag. I flipped over to a new page to begin writing the new fresh idea that just popped into my head for a new feel-good story, when my pen ran out of ink.

“Urgh!” I said as I put my head down on my desk and threw the pen across the office. “Now I need a pen. Great. Just great.”

I walked to my door and unlocked it and peeked outside of it to make sure I wasn’t seen. I had plans to sneak to the desk just a few feet away and snag a pen. I glanced left and then right. Good. No one was in sight. I saw that one girl had a cup full of pretty pens. They weren’t exactly metallic blue, but so shiny and pretty depending on how the light hit it. Now I think about it, almost everyone in the office seemed to have an exact or similar pen. Why didn’t I?

Anyway, I shook the thought away while snagging a pen and running back to my office door. Just then, Patrick, one of the department managers, I noticed was standing just a few feet away. He was watching me the whole time with a smile. His arms crossed in his navy suite, crisp white shirt and blue tie to match. His foot, one over the other. He tapped a metallic pen under his arm. He didn’t say anything, just watched with a smile. I waved and rushed into my office and locked the door.

“Weirdo.” I whispered aloud.

Then two soft knocks rattled my door.

I rolled my eyes so hard I knew if I did it again, they would be stuck like that. I blew out air from frustration and cracked the door. Of course, it was Patrick.

“Hey, there Jen.”, He said with the same smile.

“Hey there Patrick.”, I responded back in the same tone mocking him.

I honestly just wanted him to go away. I wanted to write before I freaking forget my great idea.

“I saw you took a pen.” He stated.

“Yes, just needed to borrow one quick. Lots of work to do. I’ll give it right back.”

“No worries, I’m not the pen police. Just wondering if you wanted a fresh pack that I have instead?”

He pulled out a pack of pens that looked just like the one I just snagged but this pack had a reddish tint to them.

“Here, lets trade.”

“Okay?”

I swapped with him. I watched for a sec where it looked like he even may have wiped the pen I took clean before he popped it back in the cup on the desk. I quickly looked back at the pack of pens to pretend I didn’t notice.

“Thankyou! These are really nice!”

“Oh, you’re so welcome. Just between us…” He leaned in close to me and said, “…I noticed you didn’t have the new ones we got in stock. It’s the new latest trend. Besides Beverly has a thing about people taking her things.” He winked at me

“Oh! Gotcha!” I winked back. “Well, I appreciate that. I had no idea and thankyou again for the pens!”

 I really didn’t care; it’s just a freaking pen. I was going to give right back.

“You’re welcome and don’t work too hard! Bye!”

“Bye!”

And with that, I shut the door, locked it again and sat down. I shook my head as I examined the pens.

“Latest trend?”, I said thinking out loud. “The heck is so special about shiny pens? Do they write good? Comfy fit?”

I took one out of the pack. Nice weight to it. Glistened with every turn as I looked it over. It looked expensive but I had never heard of it even being a thing. I grabbed my notebook and began to write. I clicked the pen and the second I wrote the first sentence; I felt a sharp stab in my thumb.

“Ouch!”

I dropped the pen and saw blood. Nice slice right on my thumb where the pen sat. Maybe plastic on the pen that I missed? While looking for a bandage in my drawer since I’m prone to paper cuts, suddenly my arm goes numb and I feel short of breath. I get dizzy and then I don’t remember what happened next.

A knock on the door, I awoke too, as if I slept for hours. My neck hurt from leaning back in the chair. I looked around trying to figure out what just happened. I don’t remember falling asleep. I walked to the door to open it and there was Rowen, my co-worker bestie.

“Hey Jen!”, she began, …OH?!” She said as if she looked startled.

“What?”, I asked still dazed and confused.

“Your…. Your office! It’s. Clean! How the heck did you get all of this done so quickly?”

“What are you talking about…” I said as I turned around.

My office was clean. No stacks of files, no random papers everywhere. It was clean. The only thing that remained was the pen I was writing with that laid innocently on a piece of paper.

“…What the f…” I began.

“You should teach me your secrets! I’m up to my neck in work!” Rowen exclaimed.

“Ha...yeah…”, was all I could muster as I massaged the back of my neck. “Lots and lots of coffee or infused green tea is what keeps me going!” I joked.

“Well, I’ll let you get back to it then. I just wanted to come by and say hi before we left for the day. Are we still on for drinks tomorrow?”

“Yea, yea. I’ll be there.”

“Cool! See you then!”

And with that, Rowen walked away in the direction of her office. I turned my direction back to my office in disbelief, hand still on my neck and shut the door.

“What the heck…how…and when…”

I walked over to my desk and looked at the paper.

“When the hell did, I write this! …Wait…this isn’t my handwriting.”

I picked up the paper which read…

“Welcome To The Society. I have put in your HOURS required to make you a permanent member. To stay alive, please give a set of pens to the next person.”

“What the hell… to stay alive? I’m not doing that.”

And within the next second, I felt the same sensation come over me. Pain, dizziness, but this time, chest pains. Extreme like someone was squeezing me from the inside out. I fell to my knees. And right before my very eyes, I watched as the pen moved by itself and wrote another line on the paper. I managed with all my strength to grab onto my desk to pull myself up, grabbed the paper instead and fell right onto my back to the ground, grasping for air. I looked at the last sentence.

“You will do as I say or this will be the last thing you will ever read.”

I mustered to say,

 “Okay”.

And instantly all the pain, the grasping for air, the clutching at my chest, stopped. Like nothing happened. I hurried off the floor terrified as I grabbed the paper from the floor and threw it in the shredder. I grabbed the opened pack of pens and opened my office door. I looked around and spotted Rowen coming out of her office with a stack of files in hand.

“Hey Rowen”, I said as I approached her.  “How about we meet tonight for drinks instead. You said your family came in town to visit right?”

“Ah, yeah?”

“Cool! Let’s meet at seven and go to dinner. I haven’t seen them in a while and want to catch up with them and show you guys this new trend that just came out. I forgot to mention it, all this work, it slipped my mind!”, I laughed.

“Sounds great! They would love to see you-Thanks Jen!”

“The pleasure is all mine. Let me help you carry some of those files…”