Simulated Text Message — by Author

RANDOS | 500 WORD CHALLENGE | PROMPT

The Message — RANDO #2.2

The text message simply said, ‘Very clever.’

Now, Mariah was a woman of few words. Which I liked. I could never stand someone who prattled on and on and on and on. I have worked with to many of them and they are frustrating, to say the least.

And she knew that. Her job was stressful, so she knew what quiet meant. Oh, I’m not saying she couldn’t talk. For hours if need be. You should have heard her on the phone with her friends. I don’t know what her friends might have been thinking, just listening to her.

But with me, simple commands were all I needed to know how she felt and what she wanted. Commands like: “shut up,” “kneel,” “eat,” “no,” “yes,” and my favorite, “God, Yes!”

And the intonation of them lent so much meaning also. She could say one word, and it might mean ten things. I guess some languages around the globe vary the word’s meaning that way. So, I’ve heard.

So, we had a good rapport. She told me what to do, and I did it. It worked. As long as I stayed in bounds. Which was sometimes difficult.

I did my best to please her, though. Every step of the way. When she was happy, I was happy. When she was pissed, nobody was happy.

Here’s how it happened: her birthday was approaching. And I thought I’d surprise her. I knew I was going out on a limb here, but just maybe she’d have fun.

I did the planning for weeks. Got responses from everyone I’d invited to her surprise party; they all were coming.

It was scheduled on her birthday, of course. They all were to arrive at 2 PM, since that was when she was out at the Spa Day I gave her as her gift. Nice of me, right?

Everyone had carpooled and parked down the street so she wouldn’t know a thing. When she opened the door and put her bags down, we all jumped out and yelled, “SURPRISE!”

She smiled and went in to change, saying she’d be out in a moment.

That’s when I got her text:

Very clever.

Yeah, that was the beginning of the end.

When she had changed and returned, she joined the party and appeared to have a good time. Everyone was happy, the music played, people danced, and the food was great. How could anyone not have a good time? I was quaking in my Birkenstocks.

Everyone packed up after about 9 PM, with the last person leaving at 10. She was all smiles, waving goodbye to everyone. When she closed the door and turned to look at me, I was done for.

“What did I tell you about surprises?” — Uh, nothing?

“That will NEVER happen again, right?” — Uh, right.

“You think I didn’t know what you were up to?” — Uh, no.

“What am I going to do with you?” — Uh, sex?

“Seriously? After what you did just now?” — Uh, sure, why not?

“Okay, strip!”

Yay! Back to single-word commands! All was right with the world! Phew!

Thank you for reading my story in response to Ranch Hand Agency’s Rando prompt. Thanks to RanchHandAgency for publishing it.

[embed]RanchHandAgency X-Periment, X-Pression, X-Perience Curated by Agent Ranch Handmedium.com

[embed]randos Randos is a Randomly Generated Weekly Writing Prompt where “Going Off the Rails” is praised and published.medium.com

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