The Factory
![](https://www.michaelhumphris.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/IMG_3008.webp)
Prompt for Friday Fictioneers provided by Ronda Del Boccio.
The pattern room was busy, knifes flashed and scissors sniped. Down below, machinery clattered. Jack fired nails into insoles as he reminisced about a golf tournament. Barbara passing with milk for the gluing room, smiled. The factory vibrated with energy, as shoes flowed along the production line. A multitude of jobs at the factory kept the town employed. Clerks filed, accountants ticked boxes. The manager in the office smiled.
Yet on the midday train from Rawtenstall, tears rolled down the owners face, as he looked at the latest set of accounts. Silence was comming.
![](https://www.michaelhumphris.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/image-7-1024x768.jpeg)
And a whole community will be tipped onto the scrapheap
And they were, a few years back I revisited the factory, and found it silent and empty.
This is heartbreaking, but unfortunately so real. Money dictates. Things change.
Thank you for commenting, it was real,
Towns should never allow themselves to be reliant on only one source of employment.
That is so true,… unfortunately some bigger businesses will block new businesses from starting.
How sad, this oft-repeated cycle of success and dismal failure.
So true, each generation looks to make its own mark,
Michael you do a great job of creating a noisy, busy atmosphere. Details are everything. The cutaway to the owner worked so well for the turn.
Thank you, I sometimes forget about the finishing element of flash writing.
That’s so sad and also true. Change is inevitable and if you don’t adapt, you’re lost.
Very true, but adapting can be challenging
Oh, how sad, but very well written, Michael!
Thank you very much Brenda,
Dear Michael,
You definitely set the tone. Nicely done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Thank you Rochelle,
Oh no, how sad knowing the end is coming or oblivious workers not knowing the end is coming… so sad
I guess that change is inevitable, yet hard to imagine