WORK

Published by Salonika, fiction short story prose magazine 1997
By Sue Nilsson © 8/1997

The factory walls were crumbling. I could see paint chips and pieces of cement all over the floor as I entered through the loading dock. One light overhead illuminated the entire receiving area. I looked over to each corner. One was filled with boxes. It was too dim to read where they were from. I assumed they were bolts of fabric. In another corner I saw something duck under the crack in the wall. I shivered not wanting to know what the creature really was. I stepped inside to the area where my Mom spent eight hours a day sewing. She would never talk about this place when I was young Anytime I asked about it she would make me show her my homework to prove that it was done. Now I understand why. Now I could see why education was so important to her. Now I wished I had paid more attention to my studies, for this was to be my first day at work.