Screw

I can’t shake the memory of her screaming.

“No! No! No!”

Each time a little weaker and a little shriller than the time before, until she stopped making any sound at all. I had wanted to do something, to figure out what was wrong, but every time she drove me into the wood, this incredible,euphoric, feeling sensation left me stunned.

The whole thing lasted seconds, and by the time my mind started losing its moisture, Screwdriver was gone, and I couldn’t ask her. The wood was amazing, just like all the other screws had told me it would be. Even better, if I’m being honest. Being a part of the chair gave me a sense of completion, of being bigger than I was.

The Carpenter comes ’round the corner. The rush of being used, of fulfilling my purpose, courses through me. Will he sit on us? His creation and find rest in our work? Then I feel a Screwdriver’s head placed inside my rivet again, and that unbelievable electricity filled my mind with cozy fog and my body with trembling excitement. This time ended as quickly as the first, but when it was over, I realized they had pulled me from the chair. An emptiness threatened to swallow me whole. I looked to Screwdriver, expecting to see her in tears or hear her scream as she did before, but she did neither of those things. Instead, she sat in the Carpenter’s hand and didn’t say a word. She looked…well, she looked empty too.

“Screwdriver. Hey, Screwdriver. You ok?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she replied.

Her voice was hollow.

“I. Uh. I heard you when you screwed me in. Were you broken, and the Carpenter had to fix you?” I ask.

Her shaft wilted at the question like it’d ripped all the strength out of her.

“Maybe I was. I’m better now,” she said.

Her answer left me so uncomfortable enough I decided it was better to shut up. The Carpenter took us back to the tool bag. He placed her in the main compartment with the other labor tools and put me back in the special box where only the screws lived. We were the only tool that was allowed to stay as part of the creation. We were the chosen as my Paps had taught me.

Paps and the other screws wrapped me in warm hugs and comforting words before I could say anything.

“Don’t worry. Don’t you worry about a thing, grandson,” my Pap assured me.

“You are no less a screw for being taken out of your creation. Just means the Carpenter has bigger plans for you in the future. It’s an honor and a tough one to live with, but the Carpenter only gives us jobs we can handle.”

I nod, but I’m not convinced. Before today, I believed anything Pap said. He was the smartest man I knew, but this emptiness didn’t feel like something that just went away. I worried I’d never get back to the magical happiness I’d found while in the chair. One question lingered, whispering in my ear.

“Paps,” I started, “When I was being screwed in, my Screwdriver was crying, and I mean she was screaming no over and over again, Paps. Do you know what was wrong with her?”

He spun his head this way and that, thinking.

“Yeah, grandson, I do. You see, she must not have been properly trained. Screws, you see, when they do their job, it hurts, but only at first. After a couple of works, it feels great for them, just like it does for us. You see, screwdrivers can be a little overdramatic at times. They know the Carpenter has a purpose for their pain, but they ain’t like us. It’s harder for them to do the right thing even if there’s a little inconvenience. They aren’t strong like us, grandson. You give her a couple more missions, and she’ll be done with her screaming.” he said with an affectionate knock on my head.

I breathed a sigh of relief at that. Screwdriver hadn’t cried taking me out. Maybe she enjoyed it now. Still, I couldn’t help but feel bad for her. I mean, the life of a screw was way easier. We didn’t feel any pain. Well, maybe that wasn’t true. I felt this emptiness inside after being pulled from a creation. Yeah. If she’d had felt this, I don’t think she could have handled it. Maybe that’s the reason screws were special and put into the box. We can handle the emptiness. Screwdrivers can’t.

“Don’t you worry, grandson. Next time the Carpenter comes, we’ll push you to the top of the heap and get you right back out there,” Paps said.

I nod till I think my head will fall off. Anything to get rid of this empty feeling.