LETTER 43
The Pencil
A fictional letter from Management.
Written
Management was drawing the company building on a map of the town.
A long sheet covered the table.
Someone had put in a river. Someone else had added a bridge, with a man fishing underneath it.
The pencil came round to us.
It was short.
We drew three windows. At the fourth, the point broke.
We sharpened it over a saucer and finished the row.
A colleague asked for the pencil to add a bicycle.
When she gave it back, we drew the roof.
Another point went.
We sharpened it again.
By the chimney, our thumb was hiding the line.
We tried holding the pencil at the other end. There was hardly another end.
Someone beside us finished colouring the river blue.
We put two fingers on the last piece of wood.
Then we held it still and moved the paper underneath.
The whole town travelled past our hand.
We stopped when the chimney was straight.
Management