Fathom - August 23, 2012

[note: this was written during a writing exercise: we had 20 minutes to write something inspired by the word "fathom". This is the result, unedited, exactly as it appeared when time ran out. You can read all of them in the waves category]]

Fathom- Squiddy Geiger - August 23, 2012

Jerad pondered the mysteries of the universe while he ate his lunch, on a break from the boredom of his job. His days were spent watching the line and occasionally pulling imperfect pieces off it and tossing them in boxes to be examined and, if possible, fixed and sent to market anyway. Sometimes the fixes were cosmetic; the flaw was still there, but hidden. Oh well, not his problem.

He played with his food, and as he played, an idea soared out of the mess on his plate. He grabbed at it, the idea still not completely formed in his mind, and scared it away. It had been good, a new process for the factory that would revolutionize the industry, he was certain - but as he realized it, the though dropped through the cracks at the bottom of his brain, and drained out.

It was the story of his life. He'd had a cure for the common cold once, but it fled into the night, as he was waking up. He'd found the answer to an ancient riddle that Humanity had been studying for centuries; it was snatched from him by a brain fart. His cure for cancer, obliterated by an untimely sneeze. The loss of this marvel of industrial technology, therefore, did not surprise Jerad in the least.

He had never been able to fathom the quirk of fate that had given him this imperfect genius. Supreme intellect, he consoled himself, was his; it was not his fault God had given him no way to capture the inspired ideas and development. It was what it was, he was who he was, a simple factory worker with great unknown ideas.

Tomorrow, maybe he'd discover the secret to World Peace. He looked forward to it. He finished his lunch and went back to the line, nodding to himself with satisfaction.

Posted by Squiddy at August 23, 2012 08:45 PM | TrackBack