Boom Boom Boom (New free short story)

Here is a short story for you; Boom Boom Boom. You can probably tell that it sums up what my feelings are about current events. You’ll probably think it’s a little on the nose. I have used headings to break up the text too. Hope you enjoy; Today is tomorrow.

Boom Boom Boom

Boom.

There is was again. It felt closer this time like something had shifted. Whether it was internal or external was not sure.

Thompson, reluctant to do so, looked up from his screen. He observed his staff at their desks. They had stopped working and looking around. It was okay; they were overreacting; they should focus on their work and pay the sound no mind.

Thompson was aware that there was an atmosphere. An atmosphere of panic was spreading among them.

Thompson looked back down at his screen and continued to work.

Boom.

There it was again—another deep shudder resonating from somewhere within the city. The intervals between each one were shorter.

The lights flickered overhead. Thompson looked up again from the screen. Some of the staff looked on edge. Another shake and it would send one of them over the edge. One staff member looked at him through the glass expecting. Thompson was not going to come out and speak to them. They were here to work. There had been no word from anywhere else, this was fine. There was work to be done. Thompson looked back down.

Boom, boom.

Two this time, the building shook a little. It could be getting closer or more intense. Movement in the periphery of Thompson’s vision caught his eye. One of his workers got up from her desk. Only when the light caught her cheek did he register the tears. She packed up her belongings and made for the exit. Not looking, not asking permission then she was gone.

Thompson sighed and got back to work, his screen flickered. This was just more distraction. Maybe the city was falling apart, but there was nothing he could do about it, so there was no point. There was work to be done. Thompson put his focus back on the screen.

Thompson managed to get a couple of sentences written. Then there was a knock on the glass. He looked up to see McNamara standing at the door.

“What the hell is going on?” McNamara said. Thompson motioned to McNamara, came on in and closed the door.

“It’s probably construction work,” Thompson said.

“Construction work,” McNamara said. “Right,”

“Look,” Thompson said, “I know this is exciting and a nice distraction for most people. However, there’s work that needs to be done,”

McNamara smiled and walked past Thompson to look out the window. Thompson stopped working.

“C’mon, the whole world could be falling apart, and you want to check your figures,” McNamara said.

Thompson sighed got up from the desk and stood beside McNamara and looked down at the street.

Boom. Boom.

Thompson went unsteady on his feet, and McNamara smiled at him. There was a traffic jam down below. People were out of their cars looking around themselves. A few cars had mounted the curb. Some argued, got in each other’s faces.

Thump.

It was not the rumbling; it was something else. Hail rained down. Stones the size of soccer balls. Some impacted the office window. Thompson stepped back, McNamara too. McNamara was edging towards the door of the office.

“Maybe we should let people go,” McNamara said.

“It’s construction, and it’s the weather, you can’t stop because of that,” Thompson said. It went dark. The automatic lights in the office came on. “An eclipse, what is going on?” Thompson asked. He looked round to McNamara, but he was gone. The office had emptied.

Thompson had the place to himself. He returned to his desk and focused his attention on his screen. The screen had gone blank, Thompson fumbled with the power switch.

Boom, boom, boom.