Blacker Friday

by Edd

The CEO turned to Phyllis Baker. “Lunch for four thousand, please,” he said, looking down on the fleet of school buses pulling into the parking lot. “Peanut butter sandwiches, apples, cookies, juice, that sort of thing.”

It was Take Your Child to Work Day. The big day.

Phyllis made a few notes, and returned to her desk to place the order. Then she walked the cubicles where each boy or girl was installed at a workstation laboriously handwriting their letter.

“Dear Santa: I have been nice all year.”

That’s how each letter would start. Each one would go on to ask for CyberMore, Inc’s success. Some would request a share price increase, some asked for increased orders, some for less expensive supplies. A few children in a pilot program asked for disasters to befall the corporation’s major competitor CompuXS, but Child Resources felt such requests endangered those childrens’ naughty/nice ratio for the next year.

Child Resources. Phyllis’ department, one of the best-funded at CyberMore. The equipment to monitor every employees’ child alone ran over a billion dollars. “Can’t have the little darlings getting into mischief,” the CEO said.

Phyllis loaded food on a gray cart and wheeled it from cubicle to cubicle. To every delighted child she whispered the secret of making invisible ink from apple juice. She suggested that they negate their visible wish. “Wouldn’t you rather have a dog?” she’d say, while CompuXS shares multiplied in her account. “I think you really want a toy, don’t you?”