MidReal Story
Trials of Redemption
Scenario: A good man by heart finally, after a tons of suffering, gains his victory.
Create my version of this story
Michael Trent
mentor figure, mentor to both Johnathan and Sarah, rugged appearance with a stern face, wise and secretive.
Sarah Jennings
supportive friend, friends with Johnathan and mentored by Michael, short with curly red hair, optimistic and witty.
Johnathan Ellis
central character, friends with Sarah and mentored by Michael, tall with greying hair, resilient and compassionate.
I was fired today.
I was called into the office and told that my services were no longer required.
I was given a box and told to pack up my things.
I was given a letter and told that I would be paid for the next three months, but that I was not to come back into the office.
I was given a security guard and told to leave the building.
I was given a shove and told to never come back.
I was given a kick and told that I had no right to be there in the first place.
I was given a punch and told that I should have known better than to try to work there in the first place.
I was given a beating and told that I should have been grateful for what I had been given in the first place.
I was thrown out of the building, my box of things thrown after me, and left lying on the pavement, bleeding and bruised, with nothing but my letter of dismissal in my hand.
It wasn’t my fault.
It wasn’t fair.
I’ve been a lawyer for twenty-two years.
More than two decades, I’ve dedicated my life to this office.
But none of that matters now.
I’ve been fired.
They told me it was because I wasn’t needed anymore.
They told me that it was just what they had to do.
They told me that the decision was out of their hands.
But none of that is true.
I know I was fired because Mr.
Thompson was having an affair with his secretary and he wanted to keep it quiet.
I know I was fired because Ms.
Hartley’s nephew needed a job and mine was the only one available.
I know I was fired because the city council needs to save money and the best way to do that is to get rid of the most expensive lawyers and hire the cheapest ones instead.
I’m not the most expensive lawyer in the office, but I’m not the cheapest either.
And so, I’ve been fired.
After twenty-two years of working six days a week, fifty-one weeks a year, never taking a sick day, never being late, never complaining or causing any trouble at all.
And I’m not going to take it lying down.
That’s not who I am.
It’s not what I do.
I’m a lawyer, trained to fight for what’s right, to stand up for people who are being treated unfairly or unjustly, and to bring light into even the darkest of situations.
I’m not going to let this slide without a fight.
I’m not going to let them get away with this without consequences.
But first, I have to get back on my feet again.
I have to clean myself up and stop the bleeding.
I have to work out what’s going on before it’s too late.
And then I have to start making some phone calls and organizing some meetings.
It’s not going to be easy, but I’m not going to give up without a fight.
I had been in court all morning when I got the message to report to Mr.
My secretary told me that he wanted to see me as soon as possible and that it was very important so I should come straight away.
So I went straight away, even though I was still in my court robe and hadn’t even had time to take off my wig or tidy myself up.
The first thing Mr.
Trent said to me when I walked into his office was that he was very sorry but he had bad news and the second thing he said was that he was going to have to let me go and that I should pack up my things and leave as soon as possible.
I asked him why.
I asked him if it was something that I had done.
I asked him if it could be fixed or sorted or changed.
I asked him how he could do this to me.
He said that he was very sorry.
He said that it wasn’t anything that I had done.
He said that there was nothing that could be changed or fixed or sorted.
He said that I should go home and that someone would call me later about my final paycheck.
It wasn’t until later that I realized just how right he had been.
There was nothing that could have been changed or fixed or sorted.
It wasn’t anything that I had done.
There was no reason for me to be fired at all.
It wasn’t my fault that they were making people redundant, that they needed to downsize their budget, that they had too many employees and not enough work.
But that wasn’t why they fired me.
They fired me because they’re corrupt.
They fired me because they’re scared of me.
They fired me because they know that one day, soon, when everything comes out into the open, they won’t be able to hide anymore.
They’re covering their tracks and they think that by getting rid of me, they can get rid of the evidence of all their lies and deceit.
And they’re wrong.
They want you to believe that they fired me because they didn’t need me anymore but that’s not true at all.
My job is still there.
The same work needs doing, the same cases need fighting, the same people need protecting.
They just gave it to someone else instead.
It wasn’t about saving money or making things more efficient.
It wasn’t about reducing the number of workers or making sure that there wasn’t anyone left standing around doing nothing.
It wasn’t about anything except getting rid of me.
And that’s not right.
I’ve been working in that office for fifteen years.
I’ve been doing everything that’s asked of me and more.
I’ve never taken a single day off sick.
I’ve never been late for work.
I’ve never complained or caused any trouble or made any fuss at all.
And I’m not going to start now.
I’m going to find out what’s really going on and then I’m going to do something about it.
I’m going to make sure that they know that I can’t be pushed around like this.
I’m going to make sure that they know that people can see what they’re up to and that we won’t stand for it any longer.
Maybe They Will Notice
I kept my head down and tried to concentrate on my book while I waited for my coffee to cool down enough to drink it.
The leather sofa was comfortable enough but there was something about being in a coffee shop that made me feel uncomfortable.
Everyone always seemed so busy and so important and so annoying.
But I didn’t want to stay at home today.
I didn’t want to be alone with my thoughts and my anger and my confusion.
And even though it seemed like everyone else in the office had already forgotten who I was and what I did, Sarah hadn’t.
Sarah said that she was sorry when she walked past my desk this morning on her way out of the building.
She said that she’d heard that I’d been fired and she hoped that I was ok.
She said that she knew what it felt like and if I needed to talk then she would be there for me.
I said that I was fine and that I didn’t need to talk.
But then I remembered that I didn’t actually have anything to do today and that there were only so many hours that I could spend staring at four walls before I went completely insane and ended up doing something stupid.
So I messaged her and I asked if she wanted to meet up for a coffee and a chat.
And she said yes.
I’d never really been friends with Sarah before.
We were always very friendly in the office but we didn’t have all that much in common and we didn’t see each other all that often.
She worked in marketing and I worked in finance and we didn’t really have all that much to do with each other normally.
But we did have one thing in common.
And that seemed like a good place to start.
And now I’m here and I’m drinking my coffee and I’m talking to Sarah about everything that happened this morning.
And I’m crying.
I can’t help it.
I try to hold it in but it just won’t stop.
And she notices and she reaches out and she takes my hand and she gives it a little squeeze.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
she asks after a few minutes of awkward silence.
“I don’t have to,” I say between sobs.
I put down my coffee cup and wipe away some of the tears from my cheeks with the back of my hand.
“It’s just… it doesn’t seem real.”
“I know how you feel,” she says.
She squeezes my hand again.
“They fired me too.”
I look at her with surprise.
I had no idea.
I had no idea at all.
“I didn’t know that,” I say.
I feel even worse for her than I already did.
At least when I was let go, it made sense in a twisted kind of way.
But Sarah was still new to her job.
