Let's Table the Idea

Craftsmanship may be waning these days...

"I don't need help!"

"Then why are the pieces still all over the living room after an hour and a half?"

"Fine! I don't need your help!"

Teresa blew a lock of hair out of her eyes. "Daniel, it's okay if—"

"WHY?! Why can't I just put this thing together in peace?!"

Teresa threw up her hands in anger and resignation. "Fine! I'll come back and check in what, four more hours?" she fired back sarcastically.

But it was only forty five minutes before Daniel came into the kitchen looking positively savage with triumph. "It was just the screw holes; they were drilled wrong during manufacture! It's done!"

Teresa went into the living room to see the finished end table. "Daniel... why are there screws sticking out of the legs?"

"What? No, those were the screws..."

"And the drawer is kind of crooked, isn't it? Or is that just my eyes? It looks—"

Daniel touched the crooked drawer to straighten it... and the whole contraption collapsed in a shower of press-board panels, wooden dowels, and screw ends. Daniel didn't even curse. He just stared at the mess. Teresa stared at the mess, too, then began to shake, trying to hold in a laugh; she really didn't want to hurt his feelings.

Suddenly, Daniel grabbed his car keys off the kitchen counter and headed toward the back door. "Come on."

"Where... where are we going, hon?" Teresa asked in surprise.

"To the thrift store!" he answered with a combination of optimism and resignation. "Where we can find something old and solid, made by someone who knew what he was doing!"

Teresa chuckled and thought she finally understood why "retro" was back in style.

NOTES: ▶︎

Word Count: 282
Submitted for "Daily Flash Fiction Challenge" 
Prompt: Use the phrase "I don't need your help."

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