Word Diet - short stories with less calories

A Shocking Affair (#Mistake)

Howdy folks, my name is Sam Elliott, and I'll be your narrator for this tale.

Funerals are usually a sad affair, but doubly so for folks who think that this is all there is, and less so for those who believe the dead are moving on to something better.  Sometimes, funerals carry additional baggage, like "justice was done," or if it was a heroic death, then you get flags and bands and gun salutes and things that go along with that word. 

But occasionally, a funeral is nothing more than a period for a sentence that has the word "mistake" in it.

Randy had been working as an electrical apprentice for 18 months, with twelve of those at O'Mara Electric.  He enjoyed working at O'Mara, partially because he enjoyed the work, but mainly because he enjoyed working for the owner, Tom. 

Tom and Randy had a job running 220-volt lines in a new residential housing track.  It was routine work, repetitious and cookie-cutter, as they pulled wire in house after house, all with similar floor plans.

They had just finished up a house when Tom directed Randy to go to the electrical panel and kill the power so that he could change an outlet they had just installed and tested.  It was brand new, but he noticed it was cracked and now he wanted to swap it out.

And that was how Tom met his end. 

He gave Randy a few minutes to get to the box, then he assumed that Randy had killed the power, and then he failed to test the line before starting on that cracked outlet.  Yes, usually very careful, Tom made a mistake and paid for it with his life.

Now, Tom may have "paid the bill" as they say, but his wasn't the only meal on the ticket.  Randy never made it to the electrical box because he stopped to take a phone call from his girlfriend.  They had been arguing the past few days but when he saw her face on his phone he got excited thinking that maybe she wanted to patch things up.  Distracted, he forgot all about the electrical box, but his forgotten task was brought to his immediate attention when he heard Tom scream.

Ellen O'Mara, Tom's wife, sat silently at the gravesite while the Reverend recited his words of comfort to those in attendance. She was thinking about her options for the future, which in addition to her new title of "widow," were exceedingly bleak.  The O'Mara's were in bad shape financially, and now her only out was to sell the business, and her home, and move in with her sister.

A friend started giving a testimonial about Tom, but for Ellen O'Mara, the words faded into a drone as she reflected on her attempt to call Tom, on the day he died, but accidentally called Randy instead.