The Night Shift Laundry: Tales of Transformation by Paul Lotor

Author:Paul Lotor [Lotor, Paul]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2019-06-02T05:00:00+00:00

Bounce

Construction was sweaty work. On a Friday night Tyler found a laundromat -- he was on duty far from home -- and threw everything into the wash. For him that meant shirts, vests, toolbelts, socks, and heavy overalls, really everything but his steel-toed boots. He took a long shower, lay down for a while, then went outside in his pajamas.

Nobody saw him. In the Night Shift Laundromat he retrieved his clothes, and threw out the little box of "Bounce" brand detergent he'd used. He pulled on the first shirt he saw. In the oddly tinted light the red t-shirt looked off, but it was all definitely his stuff. Lazily he pulled on a pair of socks, trotted back and crawled into bed to watch TV.

He watched a cop show for a little while, but got bored by it. He switched stations, found one about an angry chef berating restaurant owners into tearful confessions, and watched an hour of that before sleeping.

Next morning, he stretched and kicked the covers clear across the room by accident. Oops. He staggered out of bed and grabbed his slippers, but they wouldn't fit his feet at all. Had they shrunk in the wash? He wasn't sure if he'd washed them. He did have his work boots, but those didn't fit either! Tyler grumbled. His socks still fit and they were thick and padded, so he could just wear those for now. He looked at one of his legs, at its huge toes and springy leg muscles, and shrugged. Seemed a little off, somehow, but he wasn't sure how.

The phone rang. Tyler sprang upright. "Yeah?"

"You okay, Tyler? You sound squeaky-voiced."

He coughed into one fist. "I'm fine."

"Can you come by the site this morning? We could use you for light work. Overtime pay."

"Sure." He grumbled privately about missing breakfast, but the money would be nice. He threw on a pink t-shirt (huh, the hotel room's lighting was odd too) and pulled his hair into a ponytail tickling his back. He drove his battered old van out to the site of a future mall, and hoped he wouldn't get roped into digging again in this warm weather.

The burly foreman tipped his hardhat to Tyler. "Morning! We need you to check all the wiring setups, is all. There are a lot, so hop to it." He grinned like that was funny.

"Inspection? Don't we have somebody for that?"

"Just you, this week."

Tyler shrugged and got to work with a multimeter, a handheld gadget he used to tap into various electrical connections, future power outlets. Some were in the dirt pit of the first floor, but after an hour he had to climb up to the still-skeletal second level. He hopped upstairs and frowned at dangerous holes. "We're missing some planks up here."

"Sorry!" said a pair of workers, scurrying to fetch some planking and put it into place.

"You've got to build with safety in mind, even before it's complete. We don't want you getting maimed on the job."

"Of course. Sorry, ma'am."

Tyler huffed and walked across the plank bridge to a future anchor store.

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