EXCERPT
The dustup was coming from the office of Clara Termidity. Clara was the longest serving news anchor in Alaska history. Rumor said she began at a small station before statehood. That would make her around ninety. Unlikely, but no one dared ask.
However, newsroom legend had it she broke the story of the Yukon gold strike of 1893.
Now she was screaming awful things in her office and everyone was listening.
Then I saw him…. videographer Carl Zerminian slowly walking out of Clara’s office.
He ducked as a small piece of clear acrylic plastic came flying towards him. It bounced off his shoulder, too small to cause anything but psychic damage.
“What is wrong with you? How could you do that?” Clara screamed.
Turns out, Carl was doing one of those shoots where you illustrate how hard a TV person works by showing them typing furiously at their computer. It was for a promo for the annual Anchorage Spring clean-up campaign. That’s where the city and all the big companies in town get together to urge private citizens to volunteer to clean up the city’s leftover winter mess. The job was deemed too much for city employees alone.
Carl had set up his tripod just behind Clara to get the shots. And, wouldn’t you know, just as she started typing, he suffered one of his spasms. His arm shot out and smacked her prized regional Murrow award, sending it rocketing across the room. It shattered. So did Clara Termidity’s practiced on-air charm. She loved that award. She had engineers change the lighting in her office so the award would gleam for all when they entered. There was not much chance she would win another.
Now, she was throwing the shards of her beloved award at Carl as he retreated.
Management may not have been able to get anyone better than Carl, but they might be forced to try if Clara murdered him in the newsroom.
Clara, however, lost interest in killing him and now, we watched her collect what was left of her regional Murrow award.
It would never be restored to its original beauty. Luckily for Clara, the institutions handing out awards are happy to replace busted and broken ones for a not nominal fee. The cost would surely be borne by the Carl Zerminian damage fund. A regional Murrow would again reside under Clara’s special lighting.
