It was 7:00 when the alarm rang. Mr. Price rolled out of bed and shook Mrs. Price awake. Hitting the button on the alarm, he stood up and stretched. Behind him, Mrs. Price groaned and rubbed her eyes. “Monday again…” she muttered. “And a beautiful morning.” Mr. Price responded, pulling open the curtains, “Come on dear, those programs can’t code themselves.” Mrs. Price rolled out of bed and stood. Glaring at the clock, she rubbed her eyes and opened the wardrobe, causing Mr. Price to step back to avoid being hit by the door. “I miss Covid.” She muttered. “Don’t we all.” Mr. Price laughed. Up until last month, Mrs. Price was under work-from-home orders. She loved being able to roll over and go back to sleep when Mr. Price got up and began preparing to go to school. However, now that’s over, it’s back to early mornings for both of them. “We should take your desk down soon.” Mr. Price said, scooting past it to slip into the kitchen. Mrs. Price murmured her agreement. It was taking up too much space in their apartment. The two quickly gathered food for breakfast. Filling to-go mugs with coffee and grabbing their bagels from the toaster, they locked their apartment tight and headed to the elevator. “Did anything exciting happen last night?” Mrs. Price asked. “Mr. Carson stopped by,” Mr. Price responded, “Rent’s going up again next month.” Mrs. Price swore under her breath. “We should find a new apartment,” “School is going on break in three weeks. If you take some time off, we can spend a day looking for one.” Mr. Price responded. “You know I can’t do that.” Mrs. Price said, “Mr. Wright complimented my work ethic for not taking last month’s vacation time. I can’t start slacking now.” The elevator doors opened, and the Prices walked out of the building. “We can talk more about this tomorrow or tonight if you’re still awake when I come home.” Mrs. Price said. “We’ll see,” Mr. Price responded, “have a good day at work, dear.” “You too.” They kissed each other quickly before heading in opposite directions down the street. Mr. Price to the schoolhouse and Mrs. Price to the office.
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Mr. Price walked into his classroom and logged onto his computer. Checking his email, he found an angry message from Bryce’s parents, wondering why their son was failing his class. Samantha walked in and sat at her desk as he informed them that Bryce hadn’t turned in the last 4 homework assignments. “Mr. Price?” she asked. “Good Morning Samantha, What can I do for you?” “The pages in my textbook started falling out last night.” Mr. Price sighed. “Do you have any tape?” “No.” “Bring it here.” He dug some tape out of his desk and took the book from Samantha as other students began streaming in. “You need to be more careful with these,” he said, “The school isn’t made of money. We can’t afford to replace them all.” “Yes, Mr. Price,” Samantha responded. She took the taped-up book and returned to her seat. Mr. Price greeted the other students and continued answering emails.
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After a short subway trip, Mrs. Price stepped back onto the street and walked towards the large skyscraper at the end of the road. The large neon “ReLink” sign flicked off in the morning sun as she walked through the door into the Lobby. “Good morning Mrs. Price.” The receptionist said. “Good morning Kayla.” Mrs. Price responded. Scanning her ID, she waited for the elevator to come down. “Stock prices?” She asked. “Still falling,” Kayla responded. She was the resident Investment person, taking over the family finances after her father lost big on everything from stock investments to NFT Scams. “ReLink is plateauing, at least.” “Took long enough.” Mrs. Price responded, laughing. “How are you and Jerry doing?” Kayla asked. “We’re doing well,” Mrs. Price said, “Financial Stress, but we just need to keep pushing, right? Work hard and get ahead.” “Well…” Kayla began. Mrs. Price sighed. The elevator opened, and she stepped in, thanking her stars for being spared from another one of Kayla’s “Union Good” speeches. Wishing her a good day, the doors slid shut, and the carriage began up to floor 47.
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The sixth graders hurried out of the room as the bell rang. “Remember, the test will be on Friday, do your reading.” Mr. Price said. He sat and drank the last of his third cup of coffee. Glancing at the clock, he wondered if he had time to run to get another mug. They had fought the administration to keep it free, and he knew they would try to lock it behind a dollar charge again sooner rather than later. “Good Afternoon Gerald.” A voice said from the door. Mr. Price turned around and smiled. “Mr. Richards, what can I do for you?” he asked. The Principal came in and stood by Mr. Price’s Desk. “I have a question about Bryce.” Mr. Price sighed. He had figured he was not the only person to receive that email. “Absolutely,” he said, forcing a smile onto his face, “What’s up?” “I’ve received word that you’ve been discriminating against him in class.” Mr. Richards said, sitting down on one of the student’s desks. “No, sir. Bryce had been skipping assignments and not participating, so I lowered the grades accordingly.” An uncomfortable silence filled the room as Mr. Richards stared at him. “As per the school’s regulations,” he added helpfully. “His parents are quite upset, Gerald. They worry that their son will need to be held back.” “With all due respect Mr. Richards, that’s not on me. It’s Bryce’s responsibility to do the homework and his parent’s responsibility to make sure it’s being done. I can’t grade something that I don’t have.” “Can we give him an extra credit assignment?” “In my opinion, that would be unfair to the students that do their work diligently.” “Listen, Gerald.” Mr. Price sighed. He knew what was coming. “You’ve been a reliable teacher for years. But Bryce’s parents have made several sizable donations for new materials and technology. We must ensure their son is properly taken care of.” “Mr. Richards, you can’t buy good grades.” Mr. Price said, trying to make his boss see reason. “Fix this, Gerald.” Mr. Richards said, “I want a detailed report of Bryce’s Extra Credit Assignment by the end of the day, so I can forward it to his parents.” Without another word, Mr. Richards left the classroom. Mr. Price looked around at the desks, the old computers on the table in the back, and the empty bookshelf that used to hold decades-old textbooks. “A lot of good those donations do anyway, sir,” he muttered. Opening a new document, he began work on the extra credit assignment.
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“Mrs. Price?” A voice from behind her asked. Mrs. Price turned around to see Christopher standing behind her. “Hey Chris, you’re not on today, are you?” Mrs. Price asked. Chris shook his head. He usually took nights and weekends, especially after returning from their work-from-home orders. He and Mrs. Price shared a desk until management could find a free one for him to move into permanently. “Is my charging cord on there by any chance?” he asked, “I need to call someone, and my phone died.” Mrs. Price nodded and handed him the charging cord. “Thanks, Gloria. Sorry for the bother.” “No worries!” “Did you hear the rumors?” “Which ones?” “Thomas told me another round of firings is being prepared.” Mrs. Price sighed and rubbed her eyes. “Another one?” “Yeah, said he saw a list of names on Mr. Wright’s computer.” “Anyone of interest?” “He couldn’t say.” “They really think that this is going to improve their situation.” Mrs. Price laughed, “Do they really think they can get away with firing so many people without hurting workflow?” “I don’t know.” Chris responded, “At least I’ll get a desk for myself, and we can stop this whole sharing problem.” Mrs. Price shook her head. She said her goodbyes to Chris and continued work. ReLink had gotten rid of a fifth of their workers in the past 4 months, and the number of layoffs is only growing. “More work for me.” She said, reasoning with herself, “And with the money they’re saving from not having these positions, hopefully, that means more money as well.”
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Mr. Price pulled his lunch box from his bag as he turned off his monitor. Sitting back in his chair, he opened his lunch and began eating, trying to enjoy the 15 minutes of silence. Taking a bite from his salad, he smiled for the first time all day. “Gerald.” a voice came from the doorway. Mr. Price sighed and put his salad down. “How can I help you, Mr. Richards?” he asked. “One of our Lunch Monitors didn’t show up today. I have paperwork I want to complete, so can you cover today?” the Principal asked. Mr. Price sighed, looking at his lunchbox sadly. “I would very much appreciate it.” Mr. Richards said. Mr. Price nodded, understanding what he meant. “Yes, sir, I’ll head over right now.” Mr. Richards smiled and thanked him, then left. Mr. Price packed up his salad and approached the noise echoing down the hall. He rubbed his head, already feeling a headache beginning to form.
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Around half an hour before her shift ended, Mrs. Price was called into Mr. Wright’s office. Cleaning her desk to be ready, she grabbed her laptop and walked towards the elevator. Heading up to the top floor, she entered the administrative office area. Knocking on Mr. Wright’s door, she waited. “Come on in.” the voice said. Opening the door, Mrs. Price entered. “Ah, Gloria, thank you for being willing to come.” Mr. Wright said. “Of course, sir,” Mrs. Price said, “What can I help you with?” “Have a seat.” Mrs. Price sat down in front of Mr. Wright’s large desk. Mr. Wright pulled out a piece of paper and looked it over. “There’s been some financial difficulties over the last few months, as you know.” “Yeah…” Mrs. Price said. “And with those difficulties, we have had to make some tough decisions….” Mrs. Price’s vision swam. She didn’t understand what was happening. “You’ve done a fantastic job, but I don’t believe we can see a future with you working with us.” Mr. Wright said. “You’re firing me?” Mrs. Price said. “It’s not my decision, the list came from the top, and unfortunately, you’re on it.” Mrs. Price sat in silence, thinking. “I’m sorry, Gloria. You will, of course, get severance pay and will likely get a glowing recommendation from one of your co-workers.” Mrs. Price didn’t hear what she said in response. She barely noticed herself standing up, shaking Mr. Wright’s hand and leaving the office, or picking up her bag and walking out the building door. By the time she came to her senses, she had walked past the subway entrance and had wandered almost four blocks down the street. Looking around the busy street, Mrs. Price felt her emotions overwhelm her. Sitting on a bench, she put her head down and cried.
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By the time Mrs. Price got back to the apartment, Mr. Price was asleep in their bed, napping away the stresses and headaches of the day. Standing at the door, Mrs. Price watched her husband as he slept. His face was so peaceful, a look that had become strange and foreign to her. She smiled as she watched him snore quietly. A mind filled with dreams.
Will Fall Writings 