all irregularities will be handled

She walked among the library shelves in a ripple of brown trenchcoat and rust-coloured hair, her fingers trailing along the bound backs of newspaper collections. With each step, words altered, reports changed, and photographs smudged to illegibility.

At the end of the row, she said to the empty air, "Done."

The air rippled.

"And I would like to know who let it get this far. A bestselling novel -- ridiculous."

The air rippled again.

"No, we could not destroy that Last Supper painting. Be reasonable."

A final, sulky ripple.

"Next time, get someone in at the editing stage," she recommended.

Drabble Page