POLITICAL EBBS AND FLOWS

http://publicdomainarchive.com/public-domain-images-edison-light-bulb-vintage-coffee-shop/

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POLITICAL EBBS AND FLOWS

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It seemed a good idea at the time.

All my constituents… notified. RSVPs… received and counted. The race was in the bag, as far as I was concerned.

Yea, I knew it was hard to unseat an incumbent. But so many people were upset with the side-deals and under-the-table offerings made this past year… Fort Hammerstein was ready for a change.

A fulltime businessman… my family’s name… I was a shoe-in!

My great-great-grandfather had founded this small town with his sawmill here at the fork of the Susquehanna River.

Great-grandfather tripled his hardware store’s size … a mini-mall way before mini-mall’s existed.

Grandfather created one of the first duplex-housing units for his mill workers. He doubled the size of the mill and began round-the-clock shifts for the workers. Initially, the idea met with resistance. Grandfather offered four extra vacation days for the evening-shifts and the night-shift workers. Suddenly, working the night-shifts were the most sought after shifts.

Father and I rested on our laurels. With competitive wages, our workers were happy.

Little did I realize the political drain on my campaign… Fort Hammerstein’s eleven-time state championship football coach’s suddenly retires. He wants to run for the town’s mayor as well.

Wow! I had not planned for that!

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Written for Flash Fiction for the Purposeful Practitioner: Week #2- 2016. Requirements: Using the photo prompt and the first given sentence, create a flash fiction story of 200 words or less.

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