The ennui and drudgery of another day on the assembly line washed over Terrick Smith, robbing him of joy and sensation. His mind wandered back over recent events, the fights, the hastily chosen words, and all that booze. But she'd come back. She always did. Surprisingly, it was someone else's scream that pulled him back from his melancholy wonderings. An assembly line, like any machine, even the new-fangled thinking kind, was cold, heartless and efficient. And it had coldly, heartlessly, and efficiently pressed his arm between two sheets of white hot metal which was now formed into the exhaust screen of a DBX-7 Stratocruiser. Muttering swears and curses, Terrick shook off the glove on his free hand and waved off the panicky coworkers. There was no pain, which was a bit surprising, though not shocking enough to overcome the frustration. He'd gone 5 months without an accident. He had stuff to do. But now he'd have to go there, the Company Body Bank for a new hand. And that'd take all darn day. 2008-05-07T20:16:27Z http://ficlets.com/feed/story/29639 <p>Nice one. I like how the accident becomes both less and more important at the same time in the final paragraph.</p> http://ficlets.com/stories/29639?basename=60844 2008-05-07T20:16:27Z Ridcully Calvert http://ficlets.com/authors/user_joon <p>Must confess the idea isn&#8217;t entirely original. I think I read it in a comic book&#8230;somewhere. But I thought it fit what I was going for.</p> http://ficlets.com/stories/29639?basename=60819 2008-05-07T18:10:41Z THX 0477 http://ficlets.com/authors/thx_0477 <p>Futuristic sci-fi at its best. The company body bank? Fantastic and strange idea.</p> http://ficlets.com/stories/29639?basename=60818 2008-05-07T17:44:45Z thebetweenspace http://ficlets.com/authors/thebetweenspace <p>sorry, in trying to hit stars, went too low&#8230;</p> http://ficlets.com/stories/29639?basename=60809 2008-05-07T17:30:43Z Jackie Treehorn http://ficlets.com/authors/user_9066 <p>most excellent direction&#8230;.I smell a Blade Runner type angle, combined with a little bit of The Sixth Day.</p> <p>Awesome verbage too, I wish I could find a reason to use the word &#8216;ennui&#8217; every day</p> http://ficlets.com/stories/29639?basename=60808 2008-05-07T17:29:41Z Jackie Treehorn http://ficlets.com/authors/user_9066