Image credit: Claire Sheldon
Mrs. W.D.Delemas was a meticulous old woman. Her tiny table in the corner of our office was immaculate. Pens and pencils were stacked neatly in a cup. If you needed an eraser or a marker, she was the one you asked. She maintained our expense bills and she was absolutely honest. Mr. Desai, our boss, cited her as an example. Her only bizarre trait was that she kept a cup of straightened paper clips. No one knew or bothered why.
Mrs. Delemas died this Sunday. Mr. Desai told me to dispose her stuff. I’ll get to it, once I prepare his fudged expense claims.
NOTE: This piece of fiction is in response to Friday Fictioneers challenge hosted by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields.
Find other awesome entries for this week’s challenge here.
Word Count: 103
perhaps every paper clip represented her failed desire to keep an honest rendering of mr. desai’s expense account.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think you are onto something here. Cheers, Varad
LikeLiked by 1 person
We all have our little quirks. I’m not sure he knows how the expense report was being fudged (they make us supply receipts, but I suppose they can be altered). A nice mystery here.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’d be surprised at the ingeniousness of people in fudging expense accounts.
LikeLike
It seems she’ll be sorely missed in the office. Good writing, Varad. 🙂 — Suzanne
LikeLike
Most will. Not so sure about her boss. Thanks for the comments, Suzanne.
Varad
LikeLike
Oh dear. I hope she died a natural death and the boss doesn’t have anything to do with it. I love all these little hints at what could, or could not have happened.
LikeLike
There are a lot of possibilities here. Hopefully, I get an opportunity to continue this one
LikeLiked by 1 person
A shifty boss indeed! I wonder if the fudged account or Mr.Desai had anything do with her death:(
LikeLike
Anything is possible. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Those straightened paperclips give rise to all sorts of questions and possibilities. Did she straighten them to soothe her stress, or anger? Did she want her boss dead and imagined laying out his body ready for burial? Did she know he was crooked and wanted him to go straight? Or had she stumbled upon his fiddled expenses and threatened to report him to the authorities, so he’d arranged her death?
The sign of a good story is that it gets the reader thinking. You have definitely succeeded on that front 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks for the very kind words. There are quite a few possibilities here. I may continue this as a part of a different challenge or as a standalone piece. Cheers, Varad
LikeLiked by 1 person
A nice little mystery! Bravo!
LikeLike
Thank you
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am terribly curious about the clips! I do hope the mystery will be solved soon.
LikeLike
Hopefully, if Rochelle gives us a prompt relatively connected 😀
LikeLike
Oooooo poor Mrs Delemas might have to come back and haunt her boss.
So was she as good as seemed or is her boss letting loose now she is gone?
LikeLike
She was a kind old soul. At least that’s what she looked like. Her boss on the other hand…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sounds like now she’s gone there will be quite a bit of fiddling going on. I do hope that Mrs Delamas died of natural causes…
LikeLike
Oh yeah! No one to even frown on these clowns. as for her death, let’s hope she rests in peace. Cheers, Varad
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mystery abounds! Nice.
LikeLike
Thank you 🙂
LikeLike
Just love the straightened paper clips. Probably compensating for her crooked boss.
LikeLiked by 1 person
They just might be. Was she keeping score? Will we ever know? Thanks for dropping by. Cheers
LikeLike
And all is revealed…. when someone doesn’t return to their desk.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hope it doesn’t come to that!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love this. Let the reader choose …. among a wide array.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yeah. There are more possibilities. Cheers for the comment, YS
LikeLiked by 1 person
Many more stories can be written when a story ending is left to interpretation. Her soul wont rest in peace if accounts are fudged. or maybe she straightened each pin with each detection of a fudged account.
http://ideasolsi65.blogspot.in/2017/07/thank-you-claire-sheldon-for.html
LikeLike
Any scenario is possible, Kalpana. Thanks for dropping by. Cheers, Varad
LikeLike
You are going great….this one was left to our imagination, I think she was just fidgety woman
LikeLike
There’s more to Mrs. Delemas than that met the eye, that one is for sure.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This was nice, Verad. It hit all the right marks. Splendid writing!
LikeLike
Thanks for the kind words, Cheers.
LikeLike
I wonder if the paper clips have something to do with her death. Nice read Varad.
LikeLike
I just put it out there. Let’s see if I can spin it into something suspenseful and surprising. Cheers, Varad
LikeLike
Dear Varad,
This could be the intro to a larger story. At any rate, I love the way you left it hanging for the reader’s interpretation. Well written.
Shalom,
Rochelle
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks a lot, Rochelle. I sincerely believe in leaving the interpretations open to the readers. Afterall, it’s all in the eye of the beholder, right?
Cheers, Varad
LikeLike
Hmmm interesting cliffhanger there, leaving us on the edge of a mystery!
LikeLike
Thanks Jade. If I get a related prompt somewhere down the line, I might extend this one. Let’s see.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Perhaps each straighten clip helped her deal with her crooked hubby
LikeLike
Possible. But only she knew what she was doing with all those clips
LikeLike
Um–let’s see. Clues: straightened paper clips. Fudged books. More, please 🙂
LikeLike
One thing is her boss sure is happy that she isn’t around anymore. Cheers, Varad
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hmmmm…. a mystery to be solved, to be sure!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I might continue this in a different challenge or prompt. Hint..Hint…
LikeLiked by 2 people
Quelle great idea! 😉
LikeLike
Love the unanswered mystery.
LikeLike
It’s not her death I was going for, but her worth when she wasn’t there anymore. Cheers for the read.
LikeLiked by 2 people
You accomplished that in spades.
LikeLike
Maybe each paper clip represent an account being straightened
LikeLiked by 2 people
Unfortunately, only Mrs. Delemas could have answered that. Thanks for the read. Cheers, Varad
LikeLike
Devious goings-on!
LikeLike
Mrs. Delemas’ ghost would be scandalized.
LikeLiked by 2 people