Annoy -

As Toby scrambled out, he accidentally kicked the doorframe, making a sharp thud that echoed through the silent shop. Elias sighed, reached for his magnifying loupe, and began the long crawl across the carpet.

Elias closed his eyes, counting to ten. A magnet on a mechanical watch was like a flamethrower in a library. "Just... go to lunch, Toby. For three hours." As Toby scrambled out, he accidentally kicked the

He had only been searching for five minutes when a small, rhythmic sound started up from the street outside. A car was idling, its bass-heavy music thumping a single, repetitive note that shook the very glass of his storefront. A magnet on a mechanical watch was like

"Toby," Elias said, turning slowly in his swivel chair. "Do you know what 'annoy' means?" For three hours

Toby stopped mid-whistle, his cleaning rag frozen. "Uh, like when my sister hides my phone?"

The hairspring, a coil thinner than a human eyelash, had Ping-Ponged out of the tweezers and vanished into the shag carpet. Elias sat frozen. The annoyance he had been carefully tamping down suddenly flared into a cold, white heat.

In the following story, the theme of "annoy" is explored through the friction between two contrasting characters in a quiet, high-stakes environment. The Audition