The hairspring, a coil thinner than a human eyelash, had Ping-Ponged out of the tweezers and vanished into the shag carpet. Elias sat frozen. The annoyance he had been carefully tamping down suddenly flared into a cold, white heat.
Elias gripped his tweezers tighter. Focus, he told himself. He lowered the hairspring into place. Wheeze-puff. Wheeze-puff. The hairspring, a coil thinner than a human
In the following story, the theme of "annoy" is explored through the friction between two contrasting characters in a quiet, high-stakes environment. The Audition Elias gripped his tweezers tighter
Elias closed his eyes, counting to ten. A magnet on a mechanical watch was like a flamethrower in a library. "Just... go to lunch, Toby. For three hours." Wheeze-puff
It wasn't a melody; it was a rhythmic, airy wheeze-puff that seemed to emanate from the next room where his new apprentice, Toby, was ostensibly cleaning the workbench. It was the kind of sound that didn't just reach the ears; it vibrated against the teeth.
Elias put his forehead against the floor. Some days, the world was just one giant, persistent itch.
Toby looked at the floor, then back at Elias, his eyes wide. "I... I can help find it? I have a magnet!"