End

The sun rose for the last time.
The day nobody thought would come had come.
It was all over quickly for most and it only took five minutes to undo millions of years.

Labels

"What's in this tin?"
She looked over.
"It's either stewing steak or peach slices."
"How can you be certain?"
"I recognise the shape of the tin."
But didn't all tins have the same shape? She seemed confident about the contents of the label-less tins regardless.
"Open it. If it's meat we'll make a pie, if it's fruit we'll make a pie."
The tin was opened.
"I guess it's pie then."
"Meat or fruit?"
"Meat."
"Excellent."
45 minutes later they sat ready to tuck into a fresh pie that happened to contain dog food.

Où est-ce que je devrais mettre le fauteuil?

The removal men were busy. In and out of the building a million times.
They were mumbling away in a foreign language and were smoking in the hallway which wasn't allowed. Nobody wanted to confront them though.
At lunch time they produced bread and wine from their lunchboxes and sat on the grass, drinking and eating and of course smoking.
They sat for over an hour.
"Hey, I'm not paying you to sit around enjoying your bloody selves," the man shouted from the top floor window.
The three removal men just shrugged back at him.
"Je ne comprends pas, monsieur," one of them shouted back to him.
The man slammed the window shut.
"How long can we keep this up?" asked one of the removal men with a perfect Birmingham accent.

Hammer

Derek looked through the toolbox, but couldn't find the hammer.
Where was it?
He remembered using it the day before, but he was sure he'd put it back in its rightful place when he was finished.
Apparently not.
He sensed someone behind him in the garage.
It was too late to react as they brought the hammer down on his skull.

"No."
"No?"
"No."
He sighed. Maybe next time.

Surfing

The remote control was on its last legs. Or maybe it just needed new batteries. Again.
Either way it wasn't working properly any more. The button needed to be practically hammered to achieve the result that the lightest of touches once did.
He pressed and pressed, but nothing happened.
He glanced at the remote. The channel up button was worn out. Completely destroyed. It was the only one he used with any frequency.
That's it, he thought.
He threw the remote in the bin, put on his coat and shoes and left the house for the first time in three months.

Payday

He felt like a king, his pocket bulging with banknotes.
He stopped and paid a couple of bills and went to the supermarket. He would eat well tonight - no toast or ready meals.
When he got home his landlord was waiting for him.
"Rent's due."
He took the money from his pocket and peeled out what was due to the landlord.
When he got inside he opened his post. There were a couple more bills he needed to pay.
Quick arithmetic told him he now had just 73p to last the next 28 days.