The Last Shift (Read by Jack Wolf)

Story by LaMonica Andrews! 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
The last shift by La Monica Andrews. The machines never stopped,
not for birthdays, not for bad backs, and not for
the quiet ache of a man who'd stayed too long.
Warren stood at Station twelve, watching the conveyor belt crawl
by like a slow insult. He'd packed screws into boxes

(00:25):
for twelve years. His name badge faded, cracked and crooked,
looked as tired as he felt. He adjusted it again,
habit you good man? To Romassed As he passed with
the forklift, Warren gave him the same answer he always gave, Yeah,

(00:47):
he wasn't. For the past week, Warren had been playing
the mental game, should I give notice? Two weeks? Fourteen
more mornings with a synthetic smile, fourteen more lunch breaks
of silence and soggy sandwiches, fourteen more times pretending this

(01:10):
was okay? But walking out that felt dirty, That felt reckless,
That felt free. He imagined it, throwing his gloves into
the bin, leaving his badge on the desk, and walking
straight out the gate, No speech, no drama, just gone.

(01:35):
Then he imagined the other version, the professional one, sitting
in the boss's office, explaining himself with the same calm
voice he used to lie to himself every morning. It's
time to move on, looking for new opportunities. Appreciate everything
you've done. He didn't appreciate it. By lunch, he had

(01:59):
a head ache from the back and forth, his feet hurt,
his knuckles were stained with grease. And for what a
pizza party and a ten dollars gas gift card every
six months? That was it. He took off the gloves.
He walked to his locker. No one stopped him. He
peeled off the name badge and pressed it into the

(02:20):
break room bulletin board, right between the lost lunch bag
notice and the flier for Carrol's retirement party. He didn't
write a note, didn't say goodbye, and didn't look back.
As he stepped out into the afternoon air, the sun
hid his face in a way it hadn't in a
long time. He smiled. He didn't know what was next,

(02:44):
but at least now it would be his decision.