A Stately Sticker Factory Fable

It's StoryADay Saturday, and the prompt for Day Two of Story-A-Day May was to "write a story or a scene in a setting you have never used before. It can be somewhere you have been or somewhere you have always wanted to go. It can be real or imagined." Since I'd never written fiction before, this one was pretty easy 😉.

A Stately Sticker Factory Fable

At precisely 5 pm, the whistle at Stately Sticker sounds to end the workday. The owners, Lickem Stately, Stickem Stately, Andhow Stately, and their sister, Mildred begin walking through the factory, making sure machines are shut down and offices are locked up for the evening. Just before their father retired, turning over the business to his children, they had divided the building into quadrants, each heir taking responsibility for their assigned area. For years Lickem walked the first floor, Stickem took the second, Andhow had the third, and Mildred had the responsibility of the very top floor. But, when the whistle sounded, and the Statelys began their walks, Lickem, Stickem, Andhow would encounter all sorts of problems while Mildred did not. The brothers began to wonder if, perhaps, Mildred was overlooking things on her floor. 

One day, just after the whistle sounded and the Statelys began to scatter to start their walks, Lickem yelled, "STOP!" The other siblings abruptly turned around. "I think," Lickem continued, today we should reverse. I will take the top floor today. Stickem, you take the third. Andhow will walk the second, and Mildred, you walk the first." The others shrugged and headed off to walk their newly assigned floors.

As Lickem began, he discovered a pipe leaking on the top floor of the factory. Water flowing freely throughout a sticker factory could result in a huge disaster. Lickem walked the length of the pipe and found the shutoff. He wrenched on the valve with all his might and the water stopped.

Just after Stickem began to walk the third floor, he discovered an outside door to the paper room left open. Paper being blown throughout a sticker factory could result in a huge disaster. Stickem walked over to the door, searched through his ring for the proper key, and pulled the door shut with all his might, locking it securely.

Andhow, carefully checking the second floor, discovered the large lid to one of the vats of adhesive had come unsecured and the glue was uncovered. Gallons of glue left to harden in the air overnight could result in a huge disaster. Andhow climbed the step ladder, grabbed the handle on the lid, and slammed it down tightly on the vat of adhesive.

And, Mildred? Well, she walked the entire first floor of the factory and found everything just as it should be. The pipes were good. The paper was stacked. The glue was covered. Everything at Stately Sticker Factory was secure and intact.

The four Statelys met at the bottom of the steps on the first floor and gave their reports. Lickem, Stickem, Andhow, and Mildred exchanged glances and shrugged. The day was over and Mildred had once again encountered no issues. The four siblings headed out the door. 

The moral of the story? If you want the job done right, ask Mildred. It doesn't matter where you sticker, she'll get the job done.