Election Day Writings

Madeline hung up the phone and turned on her computer. While it warmed up, she sat back and basked in the happiness of finding a job. Once the welcome screen was displayed, she logged onto the Internet and quickly went to a travel web site. She found a flight for the weekend after Labor Day that was on sale. Madeline pulled out her credit card and punched in all the relevant information to purchase the flight. Before clicking on the confirmation button, she closed her eyes and said a quick prayer that she was making the right decisions. The flight was bought and Madeline was going to Baltimore now.

There was a light tapping on her bedroom door. Suzanne popped her head into the room and asked, her face hopeful, “How did the interview go?”

“They offered me the job.”

“No way!” Suzanne shouted. She strode into the room and plopped down on the cot. “That is so great. You were so worried that you weren’t going to get a job before you graduated.”

“Well,” Madeline said thoughfully, “I didn’t exactly. I finished school two weeks ago. But I did get a job offer before I moved away from Milwaukee.”

Kelly shrugged. “Same difference. Where is this job, anyway? I know you had a couple phone interviews this week – is this one Kansas or Maryland?”

“Maryland. I’d be working at the Baltimore Free Library. I mean, I’m almost one-hundred percent sure that I’m going to be taking the job, but I want to go out there first and check everything out. I’ve got a friend from grad school who got a job at the library who said she’d be willing to put me up.”

“That’s awesome,” Suzanne said. “I’d give you a hug, but I’m all sweaty from my jog and I’d better shower first. Let’s go out tonight to celebrate.”

“That sounds good. I’ve got to call my dad and let me know first though.”

While Suzanne cleaned up, Madeline got on the phone again and shared the good news with her dad. He was very excited to hear that she had been offered a job, and happy to hear that she was already planning to fly out there to check things out. Madeline’s younger brother Matt was home too, and he congratulated Madeline, but said, “Maddie, you’re going to be so far away from Wisconsin.”

Madeline answered reassuringly, “Well, I haven’t taken the job yet. You can come visit me though; it’s not that far. You’ve never been the east coast either so it’ll be an adventure!”

After Madeline finished spreading her good news to her family, she got ready to go out with Suzanne to celebrate the job offer.