Below is the transcript for Season 1, Episode 148 of Freely Written, a podcast by author Susan Quilty:
Welcome to Freely Written, where a simple prompt leads to a little unplanned fiction.
[Light piano music]
Hi, friends! I’m Susan Quilty, and today’s prompt is Two-Day Shipping.
Shopping online with delivery in two days—or even less—is kind of amazing. It’s also something I try not to use all the time. Partly to save warehouse workers and truck drivers from unnecessary rush, and also to curb my own desire for instant gratification. But when I do need something quickly, like a gift or something for a home repair, two-day shipping can really come in handy.
Hmm… that’s pretty much all I have to say about two-day shipping. So… why is it today’s writing prompt? Well, I often choose prompts at random, and I happened to be ordering something just before sitting down to write.
Honestly, I like a prompt like this because I don’t know what to do with it. This everyday phrase doesn’t immediately spark any ideas. But I’m going to dive in. Using my Freely Written process, where I sit down with the prompt and start writing whatever comes to mind, with no planning and very little editing.
Let’s see where that led today:
Two-Day Shipping
The sky was slate blue with layers of charcoal clouds. From Mary’s window, the sea was a darker band of gray that rippled with distant waves. The air was heavy with rain that would soon begin to fall. So heavy that it pressed on Mary’s tired body, willing her eyes to close even as she stared at her ancient computer screen.
Mary had always been sensitive to shifting pressure before a storm. It sapped her energy, urging her to find a soft surface to lie down and rest. But Mary didn’t have time to rest. Hopeful passengers were waiting in the station below, and more were queued outside to take the place of anyone who left.
Today’s ship would likely never leave the dock, but the Board refused to make that call. Some reports had suggested the storm would blow through in time for the sunset departure. That was enough to keep the station—and its vendors—open.
“Two-day shipping,” Mary muttered as she scrolled through her inbox.
The whole campaign had been a mess from the start. The kind of ploy Mary would have never signed off on, if anyone had bothered to ask her opinion.
“But who am I?” Mary asked the empty room. “Only the station director. Why would I have any insight?”
Her soliloquy dripped with sarcasm that no one was there to appreciate. It was an attitude she never dared to take with the Board. Not that she had many chances to speak with them. They sat in their office downtown, making executive decisions without an understanding of how they would play out.
Mary could have told them it was a bad idea, even before the mistake.
A knock at her door brought Mary out of her ruminations.
“The skies are sending some away,” Calvin reported in a mollifying tone. Mary waited, her eyes on his until Calvin continued. “But there’s still a queue outside.”
“I see,” Mary said before looking back at her screen. She held back a sigh, but her head shook ever so slightly as her lips pursed in irritation.
“The storm has made some of them more hopeful,” Calvin said, crossing his arms as he looked out at the threatening sky. “They think more people will give up and leave, since tonight’s ship could be canceled.”
Mary nodded.
“Will it be?” Calvin asked nervously.
“Canceled?” Mary clarified, though she knew exactly what he meant. “We haven’t gotten word yet.”
It was Calvin’s turn to wait, watching Mary in hopes that she would say more. She didn’t.
“All right, well… I’ll head back down.”
“Calvin,” Mary stopped him in the doorway. “What’s the soup today?”
“Tomato bisque. Do you want a bowl?”
“Not now, but please see about adding a second. Maybe potato leek? When a storm rolls in, soup sales rise.”
As Calvin left, Mary sipped her coffee to wash away the sour taste in her mouth. Angling for more sales didn’t sit well with her, but it was part of her job.
Shaking off her fatigue, Mary moved to the window and studied the rapidly darkening sky. While there was a chance the storm would pass in time to set sail, it was a slim hope. In the meantime, the station vendors would continue selling food, drinks, and cheap merchandise.
Looking down, Mary could see the ropes of the switchback queue leading to the station door. It was half-full, which was more than she’d like with the storm moving in. She allowed a sigh, hoping that they’d have the sense to leave when the rain started.
“Two-day shipping,” she muttered again. The promotion was a publicity stunt gone wrong. Mary saw the numbers. She knew they didn’t need help drawing passengers for their sunset tours. They were always booked weeks in advance, and those without passage still visited the station for its vendors and spectacular views.
It had been a well-run family company until a billionaire bought it out and installed his twenty-year-old son as President of the Board. Nathanial wanted to shake things up. He had big ideas. He crammed more vendors into the station, including a green screen photo booth for those who wanted a perfect, fake, image of themselves on the ship instead of settling for the real thing while on board.
Two-day shipping had been his biggest and worst idea. He sold it as a way to bring in passengers who couldn’t otherwise afford a sunset cruise. Two-for-one passage on days ending in two. Meaning, the 2nd, 12th, and 22nd day of each month.
If he had stopped there, Mary would have welcomed the plan. But Nathanial added a twist: no advance booking on those days. Instead, there would be a lottery system where the winners had to be present—in the station—an hour before the ship set sail.
Of course, the station had an occupancy capacity, so hopeful passengers would show up well in advance and spend hours at the station, spending their money on food and souvenirs while they waited.
He called it a two-day shipping deal, and the Board congratulated Nathanial on his clever play on words. Mary did not think it was a clever plan, in name or in practice. When she heard about the lottery, all she saw was chaos.
That chaos was made worse when Nathanial announced the plan on social media with one key mistake. Instead of saying sunset cruises were two-for-one on days ending in 2, he said the deal was for days with a 2, extending it from 3 days a month to include days 20 through 29.
He could have walked that back, but Nathanial wasn’t one to admit a mistake. He insisted that was the plan all along and bullied the Board into backing him.
And so, 12 days a month, the station became a chaotic mess of agitated visitors angling to be present for the lottery. Many arrived well before the station opened, planning to spend the whole day inside. Once they hit capacity, visitors would have to wait outside for others to leave before they could enter.
Overall, vendor sales fell on the “2 days” and, of course, ticket profits were also cut in half. Sunset cruise ticket sales on other days were still doing well, though many visitors said they’d rather take their chances on a 2-for-1 day than book at full price.
Mary had tried to implement a system for letting visitors come in for limited shopping, but it was hard to enforce once they were in the door. They were only two months into the promotion, and Mary had started looking for a new job.
As Mary contemplated her future, she felt the pressure in her head suddenly release. Rain began to streak the window, falling on those in the queue below. Mary watched, waiting for them to leave, but only saw umbrellas opening and rain hoods going up.
“Two-day shipping,” Mary muttered again before walking back to her desk. The Board hadn’t emailed her a decision for tonight’s cruise, but she did have a text from the ship’s captain.
Mary, tonight’s cruise is canceled. The Board left it to Nathanial to inform you, so you may want to push them on this one. You didn’t hear it from me.
Mary set down her phone and thought of the people downstairs who were spending their money on soup and t-shirts, still hoping for a chance at discounted tickets. She checked her socials and saw a recent post from Nathanial, who was on his yacht in the Caribbean without a care in the world.
“Two-day shipping,” she sighed before picking up her phone to call the Board. She shook her head again, annoyed that Nathanial’s promotion had ruined online shopping for her.
The End
Thanks for listening. I really had to work for that one, but I wanted to find a meaning that wasn’t about delivery. I think it kind of worked…? That’s the fun of freewriting, sometimes it comes together really well, and sometimes it’s just a bit.. weird.
If you want more thoughtfully planned stories, you can learn more about my novels and other books on my website, SusanQuilty.com, or search for “Susan Quilty” wherever you buy books. There’s also a link in the show notes.
Until next time, try a little free writing of your own. Let go of any planning and see where your imagination takes you.
[Light piano music]
