Tuesday Tiny Tale – Meaningless

~ tidalscribe.com

Sean sat staring at the blank screen. This week’s challenge for the Poison Pen Writers was to write a story without meaning. Now he was regretting being the one to suggest it. There had been much philosophical discussion at last week’s meeting, could there ever be a story with no meaning at all?

He could write a story about himself; as far as he could tell, his life had no meaning, but that would be a very dull story.

Poison Pen Writers was a cutting edge group that met in a crumbling old hall the council were trying to demolish. They had been expelled from the library before Sean’s time when Jago had forgotten to take his medication. Sean  could well imagine that some members could be easily misunderstood, most of them were rather odd, but they were all very interesting and amusing. Sean was the only boring one and he took a vicarious pleasure from their chaotic and adventurous lives, past and present.

The screen was still empty as his mind wandered over the past year with the group. He forced himself to type.

John woke up to another day, at least he assumed it was another day as he was in his bed and sunlight streamed through the curtains.

As he dipped his toast into the soft fried egg, it reminded him of nothing at all.

On the bus to work he looked at the other passengers, they did not look at him.

As he walked into the large office building he heard a voice call ‘Hey John’ but it was a woman hailing someone else called John.

At his desk he logged on to the computer.

As he logged off the computer he wondered where the day had gone.

‘What are you doing this evening?’ asked a colleague.

‘Nothing’ he replied.

‘Nor me.’

On the way home he looked out of the bus window, but it was raining hard so he couldn’t see anything. He looked at his phone, it was Tuesday, so he would stop off at the fish and chip shop.

As he walked into Harry’s Plaice Harry greeted him. ‘Evening, usual?’

‘Yup.’

‘Good day at work?’

‘Same as usual.’

That night John got into bed, another day over.

Sean glanced through what he had written, then added the title Meaningless. Hopefully it was, he pressed Print.

22 thoughts on “Tuesday Tiny Tale – Meaningless”

  4. That’s an interesting question you pose, Janet. Can a story be meaningless? It may be about totally ordinary and dull events of no importance. But I think it would be difficult to find something with no meaning.

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  6. Meaningless indeed, yet the real life of millions of people, unfortunately. Nicely captured, Janet. (I once crossed Oxford Street in London because a woman had shouted “Pete!” at me from the other side. She looked confused as I approached her, and then I realised the man standing behind me was the Pete she had called to)

    Best wishes, Pete.

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    1. Thanks Pete, yes I know there must be lots of Petes around, we have two across the road next door to each other. Then there are two Sarahs my side next-door-but-one to each other. More confusing, I have a girl Millie next door one side and dog Millie the other side!

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  8. An interesting exercise and yet there is meaning here. There’s a message of life, of going through the motions, and feeling invisible. We are wired to find meaning, I think, so it makes it hard to not find one in everything.

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  9. Hi Janet, I was intrigued by this post concept and Pete’s comment. I don’t think any day is ever meaningless. Everyday I see something beautiful or interesting, read something pleasurable and most days I also paint, write poetry, blog, spend time with my family. I think that is all purposeful 🩵🌈

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