The Moment Had Passed

***This story was written by DawnShadowStrikeFury for an English assignment. The teacher gave it high marks, describing its ending as 'gut-wrenching'. Now, you read it, and see for yourself whether or not you too would describe it as gut-wrenching, shocking or something else.***

I was but a poor man; but that was once on the verge of changing. One gloomy day, I found myself plodding down a bleak, empty corridor. It seemed endless. At last, I reached my desired destination. I entered the room. In it, I found a chair, in which I placed myself, waiting for the interviewer.

You see, in the wake of the global pandemic of COVID-19, I lost my job – my employer, Jimmy’s Accounting, had gone bust, for there were no new clients. I had now been unemployed for over a year and a half. This meant that my Jaguar got replaced with a Vauxhall, my extravagant Louis Vuittons with humble Shoe Zone-bought trainers. My savings were running out; I was becoming poorer by the day. Soon enough, I would be struggling to keep my household running.

This was my only chance. I may be able to get some other jobs, but it was unlikely. Oh, I forgot to mention, *I* had made Jimmy’s Accounting stumble into liquidation – though quite by mistake. A great mistake, I confess. So why would any company employ me, then? I did not have a great track record after all. But finally, I found a company which stated that they didn’t care about my past; they would test me on my abilities, and ignore my poor record, they claimed. I had not high hopes with this company either. They required a worker of my profession. Fair enough, I thought. They had had countless applications – one was mine. OK. Then this company had several candidates to interview. I was one of them. Yes!

The day had now come for the interview; and what a day it was. It was so grey, stormy and rainy that I could hardly perceive the looming skyscrapers beside me that could otherwise be seen from miles away. There and then, I felt my hopes plummet like a car falling straight off a cliff.

The interviewer now arrived. He seemed like a proper business-like gentleman. He politely interviewed me, which went quite well, and informed me that I would be notified by email if I didn’t get the job. Alternatively, if I did get it, he would personally call me: “Be sure to be free at 11am sharp on Wednesday – if you get the job, this will be when I will call you. If this happens and you don’t pick up, we have many other possible employees and will consider that you have declined this job,” said he. “If I were you, I wouldn’t worry much – I have high hopes for you,” he added, grinning. I nervously chuckled in reply.

Wednesday had now come at last. The two days since the interview had seemed like forever. I had not received any email; my hopes were high. I waited; 10.55am at last. My phone is placed in front of me. I am waiting eagerly for the call, my only chance to escape the prison of unemployment. 10.56am: still the phone hasn’t rung. 10.57 and 10.58am passed before my eyes. And now, the final minute: 10.59am! And immediately, the phone rang! A minute early, thought I. I picked it up. “Hello”, said a man with an unusually strong Indian accent. “Hi”, I replied. The man continued, “we are pleased to inform you, sir, you have won a lottery of one hundred-thousand pounds, sir! If you want them, please give me your bank details. Your money will be transferred immediately, sir!”. I put the phone down with a grunt. I looked at the phone screen. The time was 11.01am. My phone beeped. There was a notification. “Missed Call”, it stated.

The moment had passed.