#Fridayflash Rope

Been on hols, so this is an old one. It’s inspired by the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Yes, I walked it, unlike Callum.

Bloody Hell, its freaking high up here – must be eighty feet. Don’t look down Callum. I said no to bungee jumping – swinging into oblivion with your legs being yanked off. But this is has to come close, yeah? A sixty foot rope bridge and a grouchy looking ocean underneath.

Got bloody roped into this Management Training. Hempenstall hired in a shower from the Docklands with their ‘Feel the Fear’ programme. If I had hold of them now they’d be feeling the fear alright.  I was going to pull a sickie – those headaches have me fairly ropey- but I knew I’d hang if I didn’t prove myself after the fiasco with the Daily Maid Advertising Campaign. They told Hempenstall ‘we’re not paying good money for old rope.’

You go one at a time, when you get the nod. Christ. I’m throwing mock punches here, like the boxers, to get the juices going. There goes Jessica, bouncing like an oompaloompa. ‘Fat Bottomed Girls you make the rockin’ world go round.’ She’s no size zero, but she’s gettin’ microscopic. It can’t be that far, can it? There’s a knot in my stomach. Pull yourself together man. For Hempenstall. Show some moral fibre, he said, some staying power. SuperCallum, the invincible. SuperCallum, fragile-egotistic, why is he always stocious?

No-one has ever fallen off the bridge, they told us. Not intentionally anyway. Ha Ha. God she’s over, they’re bloody giving me the nod. Come on Callum. Don’t look down. Oh freaking hell, feck the job, cos you know what? I’ve just copped. Once you get over, you’ve got to bloody well turn round and come back. Hang it.

10 responses to “#Fridayflash Rope”

  1. Oh, I would be just like Callum! Heights terrify me. And walking over a bridge? Made of rope? Um. No. Well, maybe. But …

    A stream of consciousness style is just perfect for this story! And love the slangy language. 🙂

  2. yearzerowriters Avatar
    yearzerowriters

    Middle management incentive schemes, don’tcha just love ’em?
    The product of tiny minds

    Marc

  3. Love the voice here, very amusing, especially the end! I’m with Callum, some circumstances might make me go over that bridge, but middle management certainly wouldn’t!

  4. Very effective and very entertaining (even if it is an old one! 😉 )
    It made me terribly nervous.
    You’ve now inspired me to try and make my flash fiction more ‘Flash’ than they have been – rather then the close to 1,000 word short stories I’ve done so far

    1. (whoops – ‘than’ not ‘then’)

  5. Perfect example of corporate “team-building.” There’s no “I” in team they say, no, but there is a “me” if you know where to look. And where was Hempenstall may I ask? Keeping well out of the way if he’s anything like the managers I’ve worked for.

  6. OMG, I would be furious too! I am terrified of heights and if someone from work was forcing me, that would be it!

    Very delightful look into his mind and the way his mind flitted about. Why didn’t the managers go first? Hmm, maybe they wouldn’t have made it.

  7. The voice is great, including slang. Paints the scene and character. Fun.

  8. Alison, lovely picture. The character has a great voice and had me laughing all the way through.

  9. Deanna Schrayer Avatar
    Deanna Schrayer

    Love the voice and the slang here Alison. Perfect tension (pun intended).

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