The Return of the Spirit - #FlashFictionFeburary

 Flash Fiction February 2023- Day 1 

Prompt "The Return of The Spirit" 

Thank you for taking the time out of your day to complete this mandatory training.  At the end of this session, you will be given a short, 5 question quiz to review the concepts introduced in this session.  

As we approach the Fall holiday season, we want to warn all employees to be on their guard for so-called “Spirit Sites”.  Often, these start innocently enough:  an abandoned property in your neighborhood shows signs of new life; you might be excited - perhaps a new Daily Grind is moving in or a Strength and Fitness Palace!   After all, you want your neighborhood to be a vibrant place!  Be on your guard, particularly around  old community centers, churches or synagogues or other non-corporate gathering sites. Know how to recognize the early signs of a Spirit Site.  You might notice increased plant growth, or a subtle change in temperature around a potential Spirit Site.  The most visible sign is foggy white brightness that can be seen through windows of abandoned buildings.  The soft glow filters through, but no detail, and vague humanoid shapes move through the light.   

Here’s our first safety tip:  Do not watch the shapes. It’s only natural to be curious about such phenomena, but those who observe the silhouettes report feeling a sense of nausea and doubt.  Remember - “Doubt is bad for productivity, and productivity is always the goal!”™

After a few weeks of this mysterious activity, the doors to the Spirit Site will open.  You might hear some of your more traditional friends and family notice that this always occurs on “Mabon”.  This is, of course, a reference to an unfashionable and deviant observance.   If you do have loved ones who use such outdated terminology, we suggest ReLanguage©, our AI brain-training game that will have Memaw fluent in modern lingo and accepted cultural practices in no time!  

The smart worker will avoid these mysterious sites at all costs.  Exploration for the sake of exploration goes against the “rise and grind” ethos that all good employees follow.  Besides, your precious free time should be spent improving yourself.  If you’re feeling adventurous, see if you can beat your best time on your pre-dawn run, try out that new superfood smoothie recipe or give yourself an anti-aging skincare treatment.  Remember, "you are a flawed construct that will never be perfected" ™, but that shouldn’t stop you from trying.  

Should you find yourself inside one of these Spirit Sites, exit immediately.  This may prove difficult, as we’re told those who have visited these subversive fabrications report feeling an immense sense of calm. However, complacency is the enemy of output, and “output is the only accurate measure of your worth.” ™

 

Now, we must admit, although we are “the experts who know what’s best for you” ™ our information about what happens inside these Spirit Sites is incomplete.  Former employees who’ve interacted with the Spirit Sites are curiously unwilling to share their experiences with our friendly Consolidated Interrogators©.  What we can tell you is that no employee who has visited a Spirit Site has chosen to remain with the Company; often abandoning lucrative careers and violating contracts in order to sever their employment.  

Now, a we understand that sometimes, you might feel like you are not reaching your optimal state.  However, if you start to feel misgivings about your chosen life path, or confusion about your role in the corporate structure, don’t turn to dubious spirituality. Instead, log those feelings in our totally optional, but completely mandatory employee health and wellness app, Feel Good Now©.  Should the highly trained, extremely stealthy Wellness Analysts determine you need an intervention, they will find you.  

So, this came about after listening to the Maintenance Phase episode on Employee Wellness, completing my required monthly "virtual training" at work, and writing performance reviews. They're also doing some painting at my job, and our windows are covered in this hazy white plastic that gives everything an eerie glow. The prompt made me think about Spirit Halloween stores, that seem to pop-up in abandoned strip malls at the same time every year.

I think I like how this came out? I'm a much more accomplished technical writer than fiction writer, and I think I fell back on what I know. There are strong Night Vale vibes here, which is not quite what I set out to do.