From the Notebooks: Short Story
Troubles in the Banshee Union
“The hours are too long and the work isn't satisfying,” said Kelli, head steward of the Female Union. She had been appointed to work out a new contract with management. There was widespread discontent among the women who worked in the Warning Department at Gaelic Death Corporation.
“But you know such things are largely out of our control,” said Sean, management's representative. “The customers dictate everything: the hours, the type of work, even the level of satisfaction you receive. It's all controlled by what happens in the customers' world.”
“Customers!” Kelli snapped. “There are no customers. The humans don't care if we come; they don't listen when we come; there is no fear,” she said, getting agitated.
“There's no disagreement on that point,” said Sean, trying to calm Kelli. “And we want to help. What do you want us to do?”
“Well, we're not really sure. Some of the ladies want to get a new wail.”
“A new wail?” Sean asked. “What do you mean?”
“Something different to use, something that will get the customers' attention.”
Sean nodded cautiously, “What are you thinking?”
“We need something with a nasty hook in it. The worse part about our job these days is the indifference of the customers.”
“You mean the family ignores the wailings?” Sean asked.
“Kinda. They hear us, I think, but it's like they're oblivious to the family member's existence. We wail a warning of, say, a granddaughter's death, and the wail is pretty much brushed aside.”
“That's odd,” said Sean. “I hadn't heard that.”
“It gets even odder,” said Kelli. “The humans we previously enjoyed visiting the most, young mothers of doomed babies, often aren't terrified anymore. They hear us, they struggle with fear for a little while, then they shut the wailings out, almost like they welcome the death of their children. And there's a lot more of these types of young mothers these days.”
“Management has heard about that situation,” Sean said.
“And some of the female spirits are freaking out over it,” Kelli continued, lowering her voice and leaning across the table. “In earlier days, we brought warning of tribulation. We wielded the fear. But now, we're the ones afraid. The paths into the hearts and souls of some of those mothers is treacherous–dark, twisted, confused. And our wailings often ring hollow, like we're standing in a cold cave. It's freaky, Sean.”
“I sympathize,” Sean said. “But you need to do your job.”
“We will, but we need more workers to handle the increased volume,” she said.
“We'll try to get more help,” Sean said. “We've also asked R&D to develop new lines to strike more dread into the humans.”
“Like what?” Kelli asked.
“It's a little premature to talk about it, but we're developing a thing called, 'The Echo Wail'.”
“What's that?”
“We haven't worked out the details yet, but basically it's a method of leaving your wail behind you when you leave.”
Kelli looked interested.
“Currently you go down, wail, and leave,” Sean said. “The human might be haunted by the memory of the wailing, but the wailing itself leaves when you leave. Right?”
Kelli nodded.
“Well, with The Echo Wail, your wail will keep coming back to the human.”
“Oh, that's neat,” said Kelli. “So we won't need to make a bunch of return trips.”
“Right,” Sean said. “But more importantly, The Echo Wail–and this is really cutting edge stuff–will continue to wail even after the doomed family member is dead.”
Kelli startled back with a smile on her face. “Sean! That's downright wicked!” she said gleefully.
“I know, I know,” Sean said, smugly. “I've actually played a role in developing it.”
“Can I tell the ladies about it?” she asked.
“Yes, but don't guarantee anything. It's still in testing, but, and this might be the best news for you, in testing The Echo Wail proved highly effective with the young mothers you're complaining about, and its implementation in that field has already started. You can tell your co-workers that.”
“That alone will do a lot to boost morale around here,” she said.
“Do you think we'll have troubles getting a new contract signed?” Sean asked.
“No. I'm going to endorse it because most of the terms are reasonable. If you promise to get more workers as soon as possible and to implement The Echo Wail, I suspect I can get the other banshees to approve it, too.”
Regular blogging resumes shortly.
