He stared at it.
It stared back at him.
It seemed harmless, a spinning circle.
Yet within it he sensed malevolence, an ominous presence, a threat.
Was it sneering at him? Laughing at his bad fortune?
How long would the stand-off last?
He’d been through the anger and rage, his crushed coffee cup was evidence of that.
Resignation followed frustration.
He leaned forward and held down the power button.
The screen went blank, the spinning circle of death disappeared.
A morning’s work lost, an afternoon ahead trying to remember what he had written.
He pushed the power button again.
The screen blinked on.
There was the circle again, spinning away with contempt.
This is a response to the Thursday Photo Prompt – Circle curated over at Sue Vincent’s Daily Echo. Click on the link to read other stories inspired by the image.
Iain Kelly 
24 responses to “THE SPINNING CIRCLE OF DEATH”
Well told! Been there; seen that. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
We’ve all had days like it… Thanks Christine
LikeLike
Intriguing. Painfully familiar. Life needs a backup or restore feature.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wouldn’t that be good! Thanks Brandy 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
It would be. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not nearly as frequent on a Mac as on Windows.
LikeLiked by 2 people
You won’t convince me, PC all the way 🙂
LikeLike
I’m so used to your twisted mind, Iain, I thought that it was some kind of lottery story leading to death of some sort…well, death of a computer is easier to take than human death. Nicely done.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not this time Janet 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I hate when that happens!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Always at the worst time too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Always!
LikeLiked by 1 person
As someone who has had to put up the spinning ball all afternoon while I catch up with emails and posts, I’m not sure this is has enough anger in it. Or perhaps that’s because I haven’t reached resignation yet. I really need to get to the point where I can restart 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha, yes, his reaction was mild considering 🙂
LikeLike
The spinning sounded like a Chakram. Then I realized it was the 2.0 PC version.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha 🙂
LikeLike
[…] Continue reading at Iain Kelly […]
LikeLiked by 1 person
I do hate it when that happens, Iain. Good response.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Roberta 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I so hate that spinning “rainbow wheel” sometimes. It’s amazing how annoyed that thing can make me (but it’s so pretty … growl). Loved your story though.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Only afterwards do we realise how irrational we have been shouting at an inanimate screen! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh gawd… that is one circle I hate to see 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Me too! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
[…] Iain Kelly […]
LikeLike