Flash! Fiction 3 by Peter McMillan - HTML preview
Download the book in PDF, ePub, Kindle for a complete version.
9
“Hmmmph!” interjects the youngster, as if to say “So, that’s what you think, huh?”
As a parting gesture, the guide offers one last thing. “The computer” he says with a wink “is an incredibly versatile administrator.
For example, it planned and coordinated in detail the Ombudsman's fishing trip this week off the coast of Baja California with the top executives of the ‘big five’ banks. And only moments before you arrived, it outfitted me with this tailored suit and silk necktie.
Another "Wow" from the audience, as I strain to keep my eyebrows level.
As we leave, we're each handed a complimentary magnet which reads "Efficiency Ombudsman.”
One of the children suddenly yells out "Hey, mine says 'Privacy Ombudsman,'" and our guide turns red in the face and helps me corral the students and guide them through the door and into the elevator lobby.
Out on the street, I tick off the children’s names as we load the bus.
A flash of curiosity makes me reach inside the breast pocket of my jacket and pull out the magnet. I notice that “Efficiency” scratches off easily and underneath lay “Privacy.”
First published in the Eunoia Review, August 28, 2013.