Haste Makes Waste | Previous Challenge Entry

how it works

TITLE: Haste Makes Waste | Previous Challenge Entry
By Eva Piscitell
12/01/16
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Jack glanced at the Notifications screen on his cell phone and scratched his head. There was one reminder listed for today, and it simply read PUZZLE! He had no idea what that meant. For the life of him, he could not remember this 3:00 reminder. He envisioned the day ahead. Actually, it would be pretty low-keyed compared to others. There were no internal meetings; he had no clients to meet with either. He always kept his Wednesdays free to get his paperwork done, so the word PUZZLE! that stared back at him was baffling.

He reluctantly put his phone away and went back to work, refusing to allow himself to dwell on it a moment longer. Lunch was just a few hours away, and he could take some time then to solve this mystery. His work kept him busy, and before long, it was time for lunch. Now he could turn his thoughts back to that perplexing reminder.

But his lunch hour slipped away, and the PUZZLE! remained just that.

“Now what?” he frowned. “Already one o’clock, and I’m still no closer to solving this.” He tried pushing it out of his mind, but it refused to budge. He wracked his brain still trying to figure it out. The afternoon stretched on, and he found himself no closer to an answer when his wife, Sue, called him at 2:30. He resented the interruption. “Honey,” he said, “I can’t talk right now. I’m in the middle of something really, really important, and I have to go!” he blurted out and hung up before she could respond.

The phone rang again. “Really?” His caller i.d. revealed it was Sue. “Can I call you back, honey?” he asked, not waiting for a reply. “I’ll explain later.” He felt a pang of remorse as his finger quickly pressed the END button. Only half an hour left before he would be late for whatever this “appointment” or “meeting” might be. Maybe it was an important client or company that he had forgotten.

He was still groaning over that possibility when his phone rang a third time, completely discombobulating him. It was Sue again. He let the call go into his voice mail, but the remorse he felt at hanging up earlier returned, so he forced himself to listen to her message. “Jack?” she began, “I really am bewildered by your behavior. Are you okay? Did you remember you’re supposed to pick up the cat at the vet’s this afternoon? I dropped her off this morning, remember?”

“That’s it!” Jack cried aloud, spinning around in his chair, and jumping to his feet. It came rushing back to him so clearly! He’d been in a hurry yesterday morning and had hastily jotted the reminder into his phone when his wife had told him about Zig Zag’s appointment. He looked down at his phone screen again. He still saw PUZZLE!, but now he read it as the reminder he had intended it to be: Pick Up Zig Zag: Leave Early!

Grabbing his car keys, he stopped just long enough to tell his boss he was leaving. He quickly bounded out the door, sheepishly giving himself a quick mental reminder that he really owed his wife an apology and clear explanation for such puzzling behavior.

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