The Fact in Factory

The Fact in Factory/           By Sami Khalil

An eerie tale…

 

Chain lightening struck the paper plant with fine whips as an eerie aghast of thunder echoed in anger. Winds outside battered the landscape, disconcerting to the wild kind. As pictures of mass exodus flickered in minds, gardens were matted with weeds and frayed memories of tired hands. Those irate employees that left, churned products fretfully, with tempered rage in the variances of injustice. Workers could not cope with the changing rhythms of a demanding boss in tumultuous times. Shooting from the hip, looking dapper in tailored suits, carrying an expensive leather briefcase, he would strut the floors like a peacock, firing emotional bullets(tirades), keeping the workers at razor’s edge. Eventually, they struck and held on the thinking they would force him to change ways. “We are short on money, long on hard-working hours,” as they would object. “Somethings are paid by blood and sweat, are worthy more of mere paper,” they added. With immense stubbornness, unwillingness to yield, he threated to close the plant after he comes back from a month’s vacation, on The French Riviera, if they don’t get back to work. The ubiquitous Grandfather’s clock in the plant denoted times of work and gilded quitting, led to an odd silence. Dignity mattered to them even if eager eyes disappointed the flow of hope, emptied of grace. Crafting a plan, few of the fifteen hundred or so employees, tampered with his expensive car, as if to make it look like an accident, leading to his demise from faulty brakes. They thought they could turn it into an employee-owned place. The owner haunted his plant with clarion shrills every day, till the workers could no longer bare it, fleeing in droves. Lights glowed from inside the factory in amber hues, where blood and gore riddled the walls and floors. His death disturbed the town for he was the only employer. Growing in panic, in abandoned desperation they left, jolting the predictable mundane from the savagery of worst fears. The town dried up, died a slow death. They were rewarded with restlessness that sprung to life. The fact in factory!  

Reviews

[barleygirl]

Your story is full of powerful imagery & truthful depictions of rich-vs-poor struggles that are rampant in many areas of our country. Great details, dialogue, & storyline. This reminds me of how I worked for a factory for 9 years in my younger days, then the workers went on strike for over a year, the business was changed forever (for the worse) & workers no longer had a thriving business that they depended on for most of the employment in this small town. It was a lose-lose situation. What’s missing from so many of these situations is having the workers & management as one team, working for & benefitting each other. Your story feels like fiction with the dramatic imagery, but the storyline follows real life! (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Sami Khalil]

Wow Margie. I love your take on this story and how you shared from your experience that is so true. People are losing honor and value for we are just numbers now to the corporate world and wall-street. Sad but true. Thank you so much for all you say and share...

[Alfred Kukitz]

detail in exquisite form, you capture eerie to the last e. pace, wording, line fall into the narrative that was meant to be.

regards,
al

[Sami Khalil]

Wow! My greatest regards and appreciation to you beloved poet and friend. Your talent is needed on this site to appreciate and inspire. God bless.

[peter Duggan]

You write here a fine tale of all the nonsense that goes on between the greedy rich and the poor workers. I have nothing but contempt for these greedy monsters. They never see how wonderful life is. they are trapped within their greed, and they will never know happiness. Great story Sami. Your writings never disappoint me. I really enjoyed the read, my friend

[Sami Khalil]

Wow! I love your take on my writes and how you put things in a marvelous perspective. I wholeheartedly agree with your description on them and their greedy and selfish interests. It is happening in the wold system as we speak. As an example, in America, one percent of the population owns ninety percent of the wealth. The rest are paying bills and making ends meet. God help them, us if there is no problem here and there to set them back more and more.
Thank you so much Peter. You have a great heart and mind towards humanity.

[Mrudula Rani]

"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind"-Mahatma Gandhi
The factory workers not only didn't accomplish a just salary for their labor or respect they deserved.... they demolished their livelihoods. Violence never solves social problems. Excellent lessons of life in your story Sami !

[Sami Khalil]

Wow! Another great take and understanding of this write. Truth spills out of your pen. They really went the wrong way on achieving justice. The system failed them over and over again. They could have come up with better ones. They shot themselves in the foot as we say in America. As we say Arabia: Bite not the hands that feed you. Thank you so much beloved poet and friend.

[Mrudula Rani]

Sami, Your observations are brilliant. It is always fruitful to have conversations and negotiations. Your story is very educational.

[Sami Khalil]

So true. You be blessed .

[Mrudula Rani]

Uma abraço.( a hug)

[Sami Khalil]

:::::::)))))

[redzone]

it is indeed a hard lesson to learn that while it is true the rich capitalist class needs us more than we need them, our anger at the way we are treated is not simply or only the boss in front of us.. it is deeper and more insidious, it is a system, and social relations that bind us in this mess... while a slave owner maybe a beast, it was only a defeat of the entire slave system that any semblance of freedom was achieved and that as we know was short lived... the same is true of the "fact in factory".... a whole system and social relations must be up rooted for there to be any real dignity gained...

I like this peom/story Sami, we have toiled for too long under brutally harsh conditions while when seen globally, a small number benefit from the literal blood and sweat of billions....

[Sami Khalil]

Amazing you literally. You have nailed it on the head and understood the message i was trying to convey. I love how you look beyond the words, find deeper truths. You amaze me. Thank you so much beloved poet and friend.

[Lydia Shutter]

The scars from emotional bullets go far deeper than any ammunition could. The boss was so abusive. He did not understand the plight of the workers. Still, they were in a symbiotic relationship...or so they thought. Once he died, they were fine, better than fine. Your stories always have a hidden meaning, Sami. Well written. Lydi**

[Sami Khalil]

Wow! So true and well articulated. I'm so glad to take on the relationship between employers and employees, unions and non unions and so forth. Money has no value but the purchase kind if our dignity and honor are on the line. Modern day slavery still exist in America and around the world. The use and abuse of workers. Thank you so much dear friend.

[Sami Khalil]

“We are short on money, long on hard-working hours,” as they would object. “Somethings are paid by blood and sweat, are worthy more of mere paper,”

Sami Khalil