The White Room - Flash Fiction
Updated: 2 days ago
A quiet flash fiction story about two men at the end of a workday. In “The White Room,” Greg Luti follows a pair of janitors as they sit after the cleaning is done and talk through work, rest, and the small thoughts that surface when the room is finally still.
Two janitors end their day as one contemplates life and the other thinks about dinner.
Dan and Carlos were done cleaning the parts of the small facility of a few rooms for the night.
The main room had been set up for the party tomorrow. The floors have been washed. All the tables are ready. Their job was complete. All they had to do now was wait for the night to end and clock out.
They now sat in the first small room of the facility, relaxing from their job. There was not much in the room, only a few chairs, as they moved all the tables into the main room.
Dan, the older of the two, had done this menial job his entire life, being a janitor is all he knows. He has cleaned up just about everything you can think of, from the birthday parties of those at this park, to the filing papers of an office day, to even the medical supplies of a hospital. Today was just another day in the eyes of the senior.
He chose to work with the kid of the crew, the recent high school grad, Carlos, as he knew the kid was good and would help him. If there is one thing that Dan learned in his years, it is that some men are not made to clean the floors. Those who can clean the toilets, put out the trash, and do so with a good attitude are those that you wish to work with. They make the job easier.
That is how Carlos is. He is at the park for the summer, as he is heading off to an upstate college next semester. Now, though, he is helping out in this job.
Although his future won’t have any mops or brooms in it, the kid still acts with respect towards the man whose intelligence he already surpassed. Whether that is nature or nurture on behalf of Carlos, is something I am not sure about.
Carlos sat next to the older worker, who was still getting his strength together, “You know this is the type of place where guys mention something wild that can change the world.”
Dan said nothing as Carlos continued, “Why are the guys who give away secrets to the world always in small rooms with a random whiteboard? You never hear of a guy spreading secrets at a fast food place.”
“Or a library,” Dan spoke up. “You would assume that stuff would be in a library or maybe even a school.”
“But that is never the case. They are in a random room like this, telling us something that the powerful don’t want us to know for some reason.”
“Man, don’t be thinking too much about that stuff. It can drive you crazy.” Dan took out his vaper to smoke. “Knowledge is seeking wisdom. Wisdom is knowing that there is a limit to that search.”
“We are done, right?” Carlos checked with the senior.
“Man, why do you think I am sitting here relaxing? If we were not done, would I be sitting?”
“Fair point.”
“You know me. I don’t stop until it is done. And then I chill.”
“I am for that.”
“Some guys are always working. Some guys are always chilling. I know how to do both.”
“Too much of one is not good.”
“Damn right.”
They both sat there for a second, not having much to say.
Carlos continued, “You got something to eat for dinner?”
“No, I was going to get something from a place down the road when we were done.”
“I got something in the fridge in the break room. I am going to head over there now.”
“Yeah, I am going to get something. You want anything?”
“Nah, I’m good.”
Carlos motioned to put back the mops they used, but Dan cut him off. “Forget about that now. We can put all that back later tonight. No one is showing until tomorrow morning anyway.”
“Want to hear something funny?”
“Sure.”
“That secret that can help everyone is called lactobacillus salivarius. Apparently, it can cure cancer.”
“Man, I don’t even know what you just said.”
“Yeah, I think they are banking on confusing people with the pronunciation somehow.”
“Get out of here with that. I am going to eat.”
Dan headed towards the break room as Carlos walked towards the exit. As he approached his car, he thought for a split second, “What if that is actually the cure for cancer? Can you imagine if that is the case?”
He drove off, changing his mindset to something more immediate, like what the new sides on the menu would taste like.
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