Member-only story
By Steve Korba
The factory boy is not smart, but he works hard
The factory manager keeps him busy
He sweeps, he gets parts for the machinists
He even helps out on the assembly line
From shadow to shadow within the factory
He goes and is greeted with friendly soothing voices
This is his world and what he ties his shoes
For every morning what he buttons his shirt for
The factory manager is a tall thin white-haired man
With wrinkled skin around the eyes
He never raises his voice and everyone
Listens to him and does what he says
But the boy sometimes feels unhappy
When the factory manager talks to a woman
Who is in charge of the shipping department
She answers him in single words but never smiles
One day the boy saw the factory manager speaking to her
On the loading platform
You know, we have to talk one day he said
I will never talk to you she replied
He saw the factory manager flick a cigarette off the loading dock
And walk back inside without another word
The boy felt so sad and tried to understand
Sometimes he could do this
He closed his eyes and hoped for understanding
He had a vision of the factory manager blind
He saw the Shipping Department supervisor
Stroking his forehead and talking softly to him
He then understood that once the factory manager
Had been blind and the shipping department supervisor
Helped him to see and they were happy
And something happened after that which hurt…
