Then We Came to the End

Hanzo looked down the alley nervously and quickly slipped into the darkened room. He was already waiting, his legs propped lazily on the table, thumbing a seemingly cryptic tome.

"Sumimasen sensei," Hanzo bowed, "I have come..."

"...to borrow the book?" he replied, not once looking up from his reading.

"Y-Yes."

Without a word, he flipped out a light yellow paperback from under the table and tossed it to the visitor. Hanzo caught it clumsily and looked at the title - Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris

"Take care of it," he said, "It's a good book."

Hanzo stuttered, "T-thank you s-sensei. You say this novel truly captures the way people work in offices?"

"Indeed it does. It is a tale of office life in an advertising firm, superbly written in a snappy first person plural. The insights are as spot on as a shuriken between the eyes," he said with amusement in his voice, "For those who work in an office, even halfway around the world in a basement with no windows, can surely identify with the intricacies and nonsensical dynamics of cubicle culture."

Hanzo stood there blankly, caught up in the thoughts of the office he worked at, the bitching, the gossips, the over & under-achievers, the meetings....for a moment, he couldn't recall the time when he said out loud that he could never sit still behind a desk in an office cubicle. Ah the irony.

"Thanks again sensei," Hanzo bowed and made his way out. Suddenly remembering, he turned and asked, "and you will give it...?"

"9 out of 10 katana bookmarks," replied the book ninja.