“I really enjoy having dinner here,” Richard said, putting his napkin back down on the table. “The buffet offers a wide choice of food indeed. It’s ideal for a group like ours.”
“You’re absolutely right,” his friend Martin agreed. Their wives merely nodded, as they were still working on their desserts. Richard looked at the second table and noticed the other couples were almost ready too.
A few moments later one of the waiters approached the two tables the group was seated at and politely asked: “Have you all finished?”
“Yes, we have. Could you put the drinks on our room numbers?” Richard asked.
“No problem,” the waiter replied.
“I like this full board system,” Martin said. “It makes our stay ever so easy and relaxed.”
“We’re lucky to be at this hotel,” Abraham joined in from the other table. “It’s quite perfect for us.”
“Exactly. Well, shall we retire to our rooms?”
A power failure plunged them all in total darkness for a few moments, until the staff lit some candles.
“Well, I’m afraid this sort of thing can happen. We’ll just have to live with it.” Martin sounded resigned.
“Why don’t we go out for a walk before we retire to our rooms?” Harriet, Richard’s wife, proposed.
“An excellent idea,” Caroline, Martin’s wife, replied.
The eight of them left the dining hall but didn’t venture too far into the darkness of the night.
“We should have brought candles,” Richard murmured.
“Just look at the stars,” Abraham exclaimed. “The night sky is so peaceful.”
“What’s that red glow at our left there?” Caroline asked.
“Must be aurora borealis,” Richard replied. “Quite beautiful, wouldn’t you say so?”
“It’s pure poetry,” Harriet said, awe-stricken.
“I’m glad we can spend our old days here,” Abraham remarked. “This is what we’ve worked so hard for. It’s a dream come true.”
“I’m a bit tired,” Caroline said. “Shouldn’t we retire for a good night’s sleep, darling?”
“That’s just fine with me,” Martin answered. “Good night, and see you all at breakfast.”
Soon they had all gone to their rooms and the quiet had returned. One of the waiters cast a glance outside.
“It’s okay,” he said to the guy behind him. “They’ve all retreated to their shelters.”
“You mean their hotel rooms. They’re guests here at our hotel, remember?”
“Knock it off, man.”
“Come on, you’re the one who’s playing along with their escape fantasy. Didn’t you agree to put the drinks on their room numbers?”
“What am I supposed to tell them? The truth? That society as we knew it has collapsed, their hard-earned savings have vanished and we’re all eking out a living without much hope?”
“They’ll find out soon enough anyhow.”
“Oh no, they’re too deeply locked into their fantasy world. It’s what keeps them going. Those lousy survival rations are a lavish buffet, their shelters are hotel rooms…”
“And we are waiters serving them.”
“It was your idea to play along with their game.”
“It keeps them calm and under control. Would you prefer these old geezers ranting and raving in despair?”
“Don’t start that argument again. Let’s wrap up our work here.”
“Fine. But don’t forget to prepare our guests’ breakfast buffet. They’ll be here at the first light of day.”
“Don’t worry. They’ll have their rations.”
“We can’t complain, really. They don’t request a 24-hour-a-day room service.”
“That’s not part of a full board system.”
They both erupted in laughter.
“By the way, why did you turn off the generator before they had left?”
“I wanted to see their reaction. A power failure, they said. That happens, even at holiday resorts. I liked that one.”
“Maybe we should keep it switched off.”
“They’ll probably appreciate the hotel management’s initiative to offer romantic candle-lit dinners.”
“You got it. Let’s finish work.”
They did a tour of inspection along the fence securing the shelter, checked the gate’s locks and cast a final glance at the red glow on the horizon, a reminder of what used to be Los Angeles. Then they retired for the night as well, fearful of what tomorrow would bring.
Frank Roger was born in 1957 in Ghent, Belgium. His first story appeared in 1975. Since then his stories have appeared in an increasing number of languages in all sorts of magazines, anthologies and other venues, and since 2000, story collections have been published, also in various languages. Apart from fiction, he also produces collages and graphic work in a surrealist and satirical tradition. By now he has more than 700 short story publications (including a few short novels) to his credit in 29 languages. Critics describe his work as a blend of genres and styles: fantasy, satire, surrealism, science fiction and black humour.
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18 Responses to “FULL BOARD • by Frank Roger”
Comments
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March 4th, 2009 at 2:24 am
Yet another good Frank Roger concept that just barely fails in execution.
“They did a tour of inspection along the fence securing the shelter, checked the gate’s locks and cast a final glance at the red glow on the horizon, a reminder of what used to be Los Angeles. Then they retired for the night as well, fearful of what tomorrow would bring.”
They didn’t seem that fearful when they were having their conversation. The bit about Los Angeles being nuked (or whatever) is just too much. It’s obvious. You don’t need to spoon-feed your reader with explanations.
““They’ll probably appreciate the hotel management’s initiative to offer romantic candle-lit dinners.””
A variant on that would probably have been a better line to end on, IMO.
March 4th, 2009 at 2:52 am
A great concept, but…..
* The characters all seemed to talk in the same, rather monotonous voice in this piece.
* The second half of the story was tell, tell, tell.
* Overuse of the word retire / retired (4 times, I counted)
March 4th, 2009 at 3:25 am
I really love the idea of this, but the execution didn’t work for me at all.
The dialogue was very wooden and didn’t sound at all like real human speech (I thought for a while that the twist was going to be that they were aliens or robots or something like that). That and the atmosphere of the story, especially in the second half, didn’t really match what was actually going on – surely if the “waiters” were afraid then that would have shown in their speech? Aside from the very last paragraph, which was just a fairly bland description, there was no hint of the post-apocalyptic waste land, and the lack of atmosphere in the latter half of the story made it all seem a bit fake.
It’s a shame, because I think this could’ve been absolutely amazing, the idea is certainly interesting enough, but it missed the mark severely in execution.
March 4th, 2009 at 5:06 am
Pulled me in, kept me there.
March 4th, 2009 at 5:37 am
I liked it. Reminds me of a Monty Python sketch in their movie “The Meaning of Life” where a bunch of middle aged folks are visited by death… The dialogue echoes that of the wooden English upper crust middle class, though how such a bunch ended up in the city of angels is a question to be begged.
March 4th, 2009 at 6:00 am
I didn’t care for this one. I thought the sedadated conversation between the characters in the beginning was going to be a send up for some bigger payoff, but it just morphed into a expository conversation between two interchangable characters at the end.
March 4th, 2009 at 7:08 am
I love end of the world pieces but….hmm….this was okay I guess. Could have been great, but as it is just okay
March 4th, 2009 at 7:39 am
Interesting and realistic story. Still scarey as hell though.
March 4th, 2009 at 8:02 am
The people are not simply wooden, they are not really there. They are transparent emanations, ghosts who speak as people might have spoken in a resort hotel a hundred years ago. Also, notice this antiquated detail: they have personal friends as people had a hundred years ago.
I believe this story did not emerge from the writer’s own experiences of people, but from a secure distance, reiterating stock scornful attitudes toward “retirees.”
I think the waiters, who fortunately managed to evade retirement ARE also afraid, but have been aware long enough to keep their frenzy hidden and under control. They are probably afraid to lose their job AND their acquaintance with eachother.
March 4th, 2009 at 9:41 am
Too much tell (i.e. “they’ve all retreated to their shelters”) and not enough show; repetitive (“retire to our rooms”); ending is forced. With a rewrite or two, it could live up to its potential.
March 4th, 2009 at 9:47 am
Good concept, needs work.
March 4th, 2009 at 10:57 am
Besides “retiring” to room or sleep, another reference to another sort of “retirement” was mentioned: Para. 19: “I’m glad we can spend our old days here…. This is what we’ve worked so hard for.”
I think the writer rushed the writing, eager to get it into print. But it seems to me it needs more than rewriting, it needs basic reconsideration of its concept.
March 4th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
Hotel California, anyone?
March 5th, 2009 at 7:47 am
This story has two strong points, IMO. One, it’s told mostly through dialog, which I love, because it keeps the story moving. Two, I liked the skillfully placed hints, such as the power outage and the red glow, because they got me wondering and guessing. I think the ending could have been shorter, with more show and less tell, but it’s good the way it is.
March 5th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
Great concept, and I agrre with #14 Joshua on dialog, but it was a bit stiff. Boston might’ve been a better red glow, perhaps the buffet should have been waiterless, with the retirees a bit perplexed at the happenings outside, and the staff’s stoicism.
–dj
March 7th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
It was a nice twist, but wasn’t subtle enough. But that’s just my taste.
March 7th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
Ditto the poor execution, the stilted dialogue, etc. It just didn’t work for me.
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