Karl shook his head. What an unfair nickname! He wasn’t really Karl the Kibitzer, was he? Sure he liked to joke around, but his wisecracks weren’t disruptive like the Yiddish word implied.
At least he got off relatively light. Those jerks around the water cooler called some of their colleagues much worse. He figured Lester the Molester should file a lawsuit, in fact. Finished drying his hands, Karl tossed the paper towel in the trash and squared his shoulders.
I’ll show them, he thought. They won’t get a word out of me the rest of the day.
Five minutes later, Karl interrupted an important conference call to tell about the squirrel trapped in his fireplace last fall. After all, who didn’t love that story? Oblivious of his coworkers’ eye rolls, Karl felt certain he heard their customer laughing through the speaker.
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Comments
8 responses to “K Is For… Kibitzer – Flash Fiction Word Prompt”
Oh, dear. We've all met that guy, haven't we? 🙂 Love it!
lol! I sure know this type, though I wasn't familiar with the word. Fun and educating post. I enjoyed reading it. Thanks for sharing 🙂
There are a lot of these folks out there, unfortunately. Thanks for reading and commenting, Catherine. You're very kind.
Oh, Grace, thank you. I actually flipped through the K section of my thesaurus for inspiration. I felt silly writing it and appreciate your kind words.
I loved it ! And yes, who doesn't love the 'squirrel trapped in the fireplace' story !
Ah, thanks. The squirrel element was inspired by a true story featured on the radio show "This American Life". A pair of young police officers tried to help a couple with a squirrel in their home and their well-intentioned but inexperienced efforts ended up adding additional mayhem. As the final act, the poor animal got mortally burned in the fireplace and ended up lighting the couch on fire. Nobody had a good day in that story.
Brilliant!I have my own version of the squirrel story, but I won't tell it here!
I look forward to reading your version, Keith. And thank you for the kind word. Such compliment from a respected fellow storyteller means a lot.