Not everything was about work at The Plan. We had free time also. The suits came off and the hats went on. I stepped out of the elevator and onto the cafeteria level. Employees swarmed like ants through the food lines. I was never in a hurry to get food. It wasn’t like they were going to run out. I worked my way through the line, plopping mashed potatoes and macaroni down on my plate as I did. Seating was more of an issue. The cafeteria was the escape most of us craved. We could have eaten in our living quarters but the cafeteria felt more away from everything. It was a break. A stoppage on the clock. I looked for an open seat and found one in the corner. The table was clear except for one guy. There were too many people to get familiar with at The Plan but he seemed new, or at least not as tenured as myself.

I sat down across from him, drawing his eyes up from his meal.

“I was starting to think this table had something wrong with it,” He said.

“No. It’s just you.”

“Ouch. I can tell you must work in the compliments department.”

“Something like that. I’m Krissy.”

“Alec.”

“So Alec, where do you work?”

“I work in AFM’s.”

“AFM’s?”

“Awkward Fart Moments.”

My time of late had been spent with people’s tragedies. There wasn’t much room for levity in that. When I laughed out loud it caught me off guard. I didn’t know how long it had been since the last time I had laughed, or smiled for that matter.

“You’re pretty funny.”

Alec laughed with me. As our laughs calmed I began to realize his laugh was kind of an awkward one. There was something else behind it. It took me a second to figure out what it was.

“You’re not joking are you?” I asked.

“Not one bit.”

There was a weird moment of silence between us.

“In my department, that silent moment is where someone rips a quiet one. Then the two people would just stare at each other waiting to see if the other would bring up the smell.”

He met my eyes. Then we both broke out into laugher again. For every moment of sadness I’d dealt with, I needed to match it with a moment of happiness. That’s how The Plan worked. That’s how I worked. One child that didn’t make it, another that did. One person coming out of their tragedy on the other side, someone else getting lost in it. I wondered if my life was going the same way. In moments like that though, ones that were filled with laughter, I didn’t care.

I headed back up to the 47th floor. Regardless of how things turned out there was always a beginning, a middle, and an end. Sometimes it took seconds to go through all three, sometimes years. Everything always headed towards the end though. That’s where I was headed. I stepped into the room with the doors. Mr. Calamity was waiting for me by the third door.

“Are you ready?” He asked.

“Yes. I think so.”

“I thought so too the first time I got to the end.”

“And were you?” I asked.

“No. No one is ever ready for it.”

He signaled for me to open the door. I walked up to it. I could feel heat coming off of it. Smoke was seeping out from under it. I grabbed the door knob. It was warm. I opened the door. That’s when I saw the flames. That’s when I heard the screams.