Writing Competitions again....

This is a feel-good, predictable little piece of flash written for a competition. Whiskey of a particular brand had to come into it!



HORSE POWER  

Rory googled jobsearch again. He had finished his course in marketing eight weeks ago, and so far no luck. Some of his pals were already planning to join a friend in Canada or Australia. Working in the mines in Western Australia was becoming a popular destination for new Irish graduates.

   “Gran, what do you think of Australia?” he said over his shoulder to Granny Maire who was now pouring over the jobs vacancy pages in the newspaper.

   “What do you love to do? That’s the question.”

   “What does that matter? What keyword should I enter in this job search, Gran?”

   “Horses? You used to love horses.”

   “Gran. I’m serious.”

   But Rory entered horses and found himself staring at a complex array of jobs for a betting company.

   “I have to select a department now. What do you think? Dial-a-bet, Quantitative analysis, Risk?”

   “Are you sure you’re on the right site, son? What about equine management? Isn’t that the grand title they give to it now?

   “I think we’re on different pages, Gran.”

   “I’m seventy five and I’m telling you now, Rory O’Hare, you’re a born genius with horses and if you don’t follow your talent you will end up in a mine somewhere of your own making. Now it’s getting late and I’m having a night cap. Will you join me?”

   “You should be drinking hot chocolate at your age.”

   “There’s nothing that a drop of whiskey won’t solve.”

   “Get off my case will you, or I’ll end up in a paddock up to my knees in muck.”

   “Worse places to be. You never minded when you were a lad. You had a sparkle in your eyes then. Did you apply for that course?”

   “Goodnight, Gran.”

   Gran walked sprightly out through the door and into the kitchen where she would settle into her nightcap and the daily crossword. Rory’s eyelids were already drooping over the webpage. He read the long list of job titles ; business analyst, business intelligence analyst, E-commerce project manager. How did you get qualified for all of these posts? And who was getting the jobs these days? Nobody he knew.

 

  Maybe she was right. Maybe he should just check his emails for word about that place on the stable management course she’d coaxed him to apply for three weeks before. His friends had laughed, but something inside him had held firm through all the teasing and taunting. Rory tapped in his password.

   
Five minutes later he was flinging open the kitchen door.

   “Have you any of that hard stuff left Gran, because I think we have something to celebrate that really matters.” 

Granny Maire noticed that his eyes were sparkling.

Copyright with Cathy Leonard 2017