This is 15-Minutes: Business Magic

Heh. Looks like the inscrutable Hobbes is picking up the pen too. Coolness.

Moreover, he posited a set of rules for this 15-minute madness that I thought might be useful. That is:

For this one, the rules followed were:The basic plot was thought of beforehand.Spelling and basic grammar was corrected after. No rephrasing or rewording.

On one hand, gabe's style is more of a 15-minute free-for-all writing. On the other hand, the 15-minute technique I've seen around here has evolved into challenges: given an object or idea, write something about it, like JP's call-and-response.

Also, the incomparable jenn see made a good analysis of the whole thingamajig in the comments section:

the thing here is you're combining two literary games--flash fiction, or sudden fiction, which is basically a really short story, & a timed writing exercise. so each has its own thingies. but i is intrigued by the idea & will meditate further.

I await with baited breath, pun intended.

But I'm just digressing (I do that a lot here). So without further ado, here's another friend of mine for your entertainment...

People don't know Rhochie B____.

An affable, good-natured guy, Rhochie runs a family restaurant in Pasig City. He's pretty serious about it, trading time between being with his lovely young wife—who teaches at a nearby school—and managing the restaurant.

Still, he manages to spare some hours surfing the internet or playing computer games. Or building models. He's pretty good at that.

Right now, Rhoch is just waiting for the general manager to close shop downstairs. It’s a Wednesday night, a slow night for the restaurant so he’s letting the guy handle closing time. He does that every now and then.

In the meantime, he’s downloading something on the internet. It’s slow going despite the bandwidth he’s got. But no worries: he’s not going anywhere.

He doesn't have children yet. Not yet the right time, Rhochie would say. But what people don't know is that it's all about priorities.

You see, Rhoch—as his friends call him—is actually straight-up serious about running the restaurant. He does catering for functions like weddings, debuts and graduation parties. He's had a videoke machine installed for those who feel like singing, drunk and all. He's also scheduled ballroom dancing two nights a week for the older set.

Just then, Rhoch’s cell phone rings. It’s his wife, asking what time he’s coming home. He reassures her that he’ll be home soon and tells her to go to sleep. She has classes early in the morning and he doesn’t want her too tired. He tells her he still has work to do.

He looks at the download screen: 80 percent left. He really wants to see if he can learn anything new from the Malleus Maleficarum, a book he heard from other references.

Moreover, Rhoch dabbles in magic. Black or white, it really doesn't matter, Rhoch would say. But Rhoch uses it with a practical purpose in mind.

For example, two restaurants—his competitors—have shut down after several months. Rhoch would say it's just market forces at play. That, and he has better service.

However, he isn't saying anything about the incantations in the moonlight, the graveyard ceremonies, or the dead animals sacrificed in the attic of the restaurant. Likewise, he's quite mum about how his restaurant-rivals have encountered bad—almost deadly—luck.

Rhoch also has a secret weapon.

You see, there's a reason why they don't have children yet. Oh, Rhoch definitely loves his wife. But as one who uses magic, Rhoch needs something that only a... virginal woman can bring to table. So he did the best thing he could think of: he married one.

Just then, the download is done. As he prints out the book, Rhoch takes out his small blood-letting kit: syringe, rubber tube, etc. He thinks that his wife is probably asleep by now, thanks to the small dosage of tranquilizer he leaves in her meals.

In fact, he probably has enough time to get a little blood and try out a new spell from the tome he downloaded earlier. In the meantime, the book once called the ‘Witch Hammer’ will continue printing.

You might say that the old adage-- behind every man's success is a woman-- is quite true in Rhoch's case.

... And time's up.

(Edited to add: Damn it people! This is just fiction! Fun fiction, yes, but fiction nevertheless.)