Roses

Frank started his day like every other. His alarm clock rang precisely at six thirty, blaring with the daily news. Never hitting the snooze, he sat up straight and began to start his day. Three messages had been left on his phone from the night before, no doubt his boss calling him with the morning's assignments. He barely noticed what the speaker was saying as the shower water got warmer. By the time his shower was over, the news had arrived. A bank had been robbed, twins had been born at the local hospital, and the forecast predicted a sunny day. Frank noticed none of this as he hurried to the financial section. His stocks had gone up three points. Today was shaping up to be a good day.

On the way to work, Frank walked through the market, not bothering to stop and say hello to the vendors. Work needed attending and life would not simply allow him the time to slow down. He barely noticed the small child standing in his path, carrying flowers. Too busy concentrating on what yesterday's sales were, the two collided. Papers and flowers flew in all directions. Angrily, Frank stood to his feet, gathering what was left of the morning's paper around him. The boy looked up and asked,

Would you like to smell the roses?

Without an answer, Frank brushed past the child. Soon, on the subway to work, he forgot all about the fall and became engulfed once again in the numbers. His stocks had risen once again. With the economy shaping up, he thought, cashing in now would be foolish. Better to save my investment and wait for it to rise again. A ringing came from within his pocket, snapping him off of his train of thought. It was his boss, asking him how long until he arrived at work. The new product was about to be tested, and he needed to have the sales done by noon. Frank mindlessly got off at his stop, reassuring the man on the phone all the while that the reports would be done.

By the time he stepped into his work, the boss had already started the daily morning meeting. Frank hurried to his seat, hoping that he was in time for the bagels. Blueberry was his favorite, but by the time he got there, people usually ate them. While the new product was being shown around the room, he spotted the last blueberry bagel sitting next to the cream cheese. Munching on it happily Frank knew that today was definitely going to be a good day.

Lunch came and the sandwich man came as usual. Every day Frank got the egg salad, barely having time to eat it before he had to return to work. For some reason, the sandwich man was standing outside his cubicle, as if waiting for something. Frank went to the door and asked the man angrily if there a problem. The man looked at him with a flower in his hand and asked,

Would you like to smell the roses?

Frank shut the door as the sandwich man walked away. Too many people had too much time on their hands he thought. He quickly returned to his work, separating the piles of papers by priority. There were papers needed by today, and some needed by next week. Picking up a pen he took the numbers and began making sense of them. Today was looking to be another long day at work. That didn't bother Frank; at work he was happy.

It came as no surprise to Frank when his wife left him. He barely saw her on the weekends he had off. Work had completely engulfed his life, consuming what little time he had reserved for his son. Custody was awarded to the mother, which didn't bother him at all. Time spent with the kid was time wasted; the boy didn't like him anyways. All he ever talked about was how much he wanted to be at his mother's. After their last fight 2 weeks ago, Frank told the kid that if he wanted to be with his mother so badly, that he never had to come over again. Sitting at his desk now, surrounded by work, he didn't even notice the dusty picture of his boy, standing next to him with a bat and glove.

As Frank walked out of the building, night had fallen around him. Twelve o'clock had come so fast. He had simply lost track of time working on the new project all day. Today was the day that he was supposed to see he son. It didn't matter; there were more important things to do. He was sure that his son didn't want to see him anyways. As Frank walked through the marketplace, he saw the same child standing there alone in the street. He stared at him as the boy asked,

Would you like to smell the roses?

Frank walked by, dropping a dollar in the young boy's basket. He reminded him of his son, there was something in his eyes. Even still, He needed to get home in a hurry to catch the nightly news. By now, tomorrow’s sales would be ready. The night would be spent figuring out the new numbers, making sense of the day's graphs and charts.

Frank's alarm clock flashed three by the time he was done. Putting away all of his night's findings was all that was left. The cold shower felt good as he prepared to go to sleep. Today had indeed been a good day. He had accomplished all that he wanted and even a little more. Already he could see that tomorrow was going to be rough. The new numbers were showing a problem with sales. Frank set his alarm and went to sleep, ready for the next day.

Six thirty in the morning came like usual. The alarm went off, blaring the morning news. Frank lay still. A half hour later, the phone rang. He still did not move. After an hour, men finally came to check on Frank. As they pulled the sheet over his head, his son ran into the house. They pulled him back off the body as he cried out apologies. The boy's mother hugged him closely and took him away. As they walked home through the marketplace, a young voice called,

Would you like to smell the roses?