Friday, March 18, 2011

Bathroom Monologue: Lucky Four Leaf Clover

Waylon checked the security cams. Still nobody in the building. He’d beat them all here. Maybe it was his lucky day. He leaned both palms onto the lip of the briefcase. It bent, but the clasps refused to meet.

“Oh, come on.”

He yanked it open and pulled out the top stack of bearer bonds. Those could travel in his pockets – most people didn’t even know what they were. If anyone at the airport got nosy, he’d give them one. That’d shut them up.

Wadding the bonds and stuffing them in his pockets, Waylon circled the office. His screen blinked to alert him that reformatting had finished. He shoved the flashdrive into his breast pocket, then stepped to the opposing filing cabinet. The picture frame crackled under of his polished shoe.

“Cambodian. French. Brazilian.” He finished flicking through the second drawer. Nope, everything had gone to the shredder or his briefcase. But he’d had to check, because the guilty always forgot something, and damned if Waylon was going to become a member of the club of examples.

A bottle of lighter fluid waited in the third drawer. The reminder to light the trash can. He took it and made the last sweep of the room.

The rest of his desk? The monitor. Keyboard. Newton’s Cradle. He’d buy a new one. There was his wife’s photograph. He could buy a new one of those, too.

“Like you weren’t intending the same, Charlene,” he said, tapping the glass from the bottom of his shoe. “You’ll only be angry I beat you here.”

Then he saw a fleck of green on the windowsill. He approached, fingers sweeping over his briefcase. What was that? A flower? He didn’t keep plants in here.

It was a clover, and damned if it didn’t have four leaves. He touched it in disbelief. Whatever adhered it to the pane released and it fell across his palm. He held it by the stem, looking down on it and the ten stories below. He tensed his thumb and made the leaves twirl.

“My lucky day.”

He turned to toss it in his briefcase and missed the flash. The instant it left his fingers, Waylon’s window cracked. He dropped the clover, and life dropped him. He fell, one hand gracing for briefcase, the other at the sucking wound in his lung.

The four leaf clover landed on top of the bonds and deeds. It had been good luck - for the man who’d left it.

18 comments:

  1. When I read about the clover I thought leprechaun and now I think he granted someone's wish... Lol

    Just kidding, shocking end!

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  2. Beware of luck ... it may not be yours! :) Couldn't exactly feel bad for him anyway. Liked this a lot.

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  3. Great set-up, and a terrific mechanism for the double cross.

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  4. "damned if Waylon was going to become a member of the club of examples." < great line!

    No telling if Waylon got what he deserved but it was cool the way he got it.

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  5. Made me shudder too at the thought of how the shamrock came to be stuck inside the window! Good story xxx

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  6. Great as always, John. So much tension built so quickly. The perfect ending.

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  7. Nice one, John. The four leaf was not lucky for him...

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  8. Loved this line - "He dropped the clover, and life dropped him." Wonderful way of putting it!

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  9. Note to self. When guilty, don't let the little thing distract you from destroying evidence. #guiltyface

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  10. When the clover caught his eye, I thought perhaps Waylon was about to become the butt of a cruel and well crafted joke. Is it strange that I was pleasantly surprised when it brought death? Loved it.

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  11. But he’d had to check, because the guilty always forgot something, and damned if Waylon was going to become a member of the club of examples.


    Great line!

    I was hoping Waylon would get away with it, even if he is a scumbag.

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  12. I like the tension, the MC throughly going over the deatils, but not counting on another's luck, just his own. Good choice for this week!

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  13. Poor Waylon, so very thorough, it's a shame he didn't credit Charlene for having some smarts too.

    I too liked the line about the club of examples.

    Good short John.

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  14. Great story! You set it up so well. You would think someone so careful would be more suspicious of a clover. I guess he will be joining the "club of examples" after all. :)

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  15. Ha! I love this line:

    There was his wife’s photograph. He could buy a new one of those, too.

    At least that's what he thought before the clover turned his luck.

    Good story, John.

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  16. Great set up and nailed the delivery.
    Adam B @revhappiness

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