By Alan Moskowitz
When Maxie turned sixty-six, his manager laid him off—budget cuts. Tears filled his eyes. He loved the bookstore, the comforting routine of forty years.
He nuked his dinner and set his food on the well-worn snack tray for maybe the ten-thousandth time. He toyed with his meatloaf and mashed potatoes and wondered, “Now what?”
He had a retirement account but hadn’t paid much attention until now. He discovered his investments of forty years had grown exponentially. Travel? Live on a tropical island? Move to Paris?
Then he laughed out loud.
Tomorrow he would call his broker and buy the store.
Heartwarming. Love it! x
Loved it. Hope he fired the manager.
Great twist at exactly the right moment. You set up the ending well while eliciting empathy for your character. That emotional engagement packs the punch of the ending. Well done!
I loved the ending and it felt right!
Good for Maxie!
Nicely done!
How sweet!
Love it!
You did a great job helping us feel all of Maxie’s emotions including his triumphant ending. I loved it!
A happy ending for the New Year. Great story idea!
Love this story!
What else to serve after a ten-thousandth meatloaf, but a just dessert — great character build-up.
Excellent story!
Just perfect!
Love this. A great ending to a man excellent story.
Oops typo! An excellent story!
Yee Hah!
Delightful! Brought a smile to my lips!!
Good one! Karmic justice 🙂
Wonderful!
Oaaww. I smiled at the end. Simply loved this story.
Yes! A perfect ending! Now it makes me think of my own retirement possibilities!
Great lead-up – fantastic ending.
As a retiree it was great karma!
Like a miniature roller coaster, and ends on a joyful note.
Loved this. He did sound bored didn’t he? You built that up well.