I wanted to write something Kafkaesque, inspired by the flash fiction in Kafkaesque: Fourteen Stories. I would call it a rough draft though I may never come back to it. It is incredible that Kafka could do so much more in so few words.
The man held the ball close to his chest. A woman in front of him wore a magnificent hat that grimaced at him. The line stretched into the distance.
An attendant spotted him and approached.
“Sir, have you taken the ball test?” She asked. “You must prove you are sound of mind before you can deposit your ball.”
“The ball test?” This was not something the man had heard of before.
“You must prove you are sound of mind before you can deposit your ball.”
“How do I take the ball test?”
“Please step aside sir. Someone will be around shortly to give you the ball test.” The line ahead of him was moving forward. The attendant waved the people behind him around and they streamed around him forming a crest in the wave.
“Do you have the appropriate identification?” She asked.
Holding the ball in one hand, he reached into his pockets. Fumbling around with his wallet, he fetched out a small plastic card and presented it to the attendant. She shook her head and said it was not valid. It had to have the seal. Looking at his card, he saw that the card had his name and picture on it but no seal. The man did not know what seal the attendant was talking about. Taking out his cards one at a time, he looked for any seal she could be asking for.
“Are you on the registry?” Another attendant had come up to him.
“Registered for the ball test?” He asked.
“No, for depositing your ball. Another attendant is responsible for the ball test registry.” The man wondered to himself why there were two registries.
“I registered a long time ago.”
“That is not good. You need to register often. We purge the registry frequently to prevent fraud. What is your name? I can check too see if you are on the registry.”
Before he could give the new attendant his name, the first attendant handed him back a card. “This will not do. This does not have the seal.” The man did not remember handing her the card in the first place.
The woman with the magnificent hat was half the size in the distance. Giving the second attendant his name caused her to begin scanning furiously through her papers. The first attendant still had her hand out for his identification. He had exhausted the cards in his wallet and was looking through his pack for any additional possible cards.
A third attendant came up. “It is closing time. Anyone not in line to deposit their ball is asked to leave.”
The man raised his voice in protest. He had been part of the line before the line had been rerouted around him.
“You can not deposit your ball. In fact, I do not even see your ball anywhere.”
The man raised the hand holding the ball in defense but to his surprise it was not holding his ball. It was holding a card. The ball was nowhere to be found. He could no longer see the lady with the magnificent hat.
“Please come back next year prepared.” The attendant said. “If you do, there is a chance it will count.”