A Berry Big Problem

“Hey Ben,” Walter called out from the house, “remember to chuck the soggy and moldy berries into the bucket to be thrown in the woods!” “Don’t worry, I know,” I said nonchalantly as I strolled to the freezer room. ‘Aaahhh I can’t wait. After this I can go home. Plus, I get the day off tomorrow!’ I thought to myself. It was my second year at the farm so I knew the drill. When I arrived, the stage was set. The trays were stacked high to the ceiling, the wax paper was ready to be rolled out, and the berries were in the fridge. My phone got plugged into the speaker and the music started. I rolled up my t-shirt sleeves to make it a tank top and got to work. I turned into a conveyer belt moving to the beat of the sounds. Berries went from container, to a fresh sheet of wax paper on a tray, to the rack in the freezer.
My mind became lost in the music, and I began to sing as I dumped whole cartons of berries and spread them around on the wax paper. “Biggie Biggie Biggie can’t you see, sometimes your words just hypnotize me, and I just love your flashy ways, guess that’s why they broke, and you’re so paid.” “Cold like Minnesota, it get cold like Minnesota need to stay up out them streets if you can’t take the heat.” “It’s the remix to ignition, hot and fresh out the kitchen, mama rollin’ that body, got every man in here wishin.’”
Minute by minute the stack of trays started to shrink like a snowman melting in the spring sunshine. The crates that were once full of berries now laid in a pile, empty, waiting to be filled with tomorrow’s crop. As the roll of wax paper became thinner, so did my patience. I started working faster and thinking more about the food that I would devour for dinner when I finally arrived home. The time finally came. The last carton. I watched the berries hit the wax paper, spread them out, and slid the last tray into place in the freezer. A deep sigh followed as I was finally done working for the day. I cleaned up my mess, and walked out of the freezer room. One thing that I did not notice was the empty bucket sitting right next to the table that was meant for the moldy and soggy berries.
The next morning I was eating breakfast and watching SportsCenter when I heard a buzzing coming from my phone that was in the kitchen. Too lazy to get up, I waited until a commercial break to go see who it was. As the FanDuel commercial started, I hauled myself off the couch to go find my phone. I opened my it to find a voicemail from Sam, a friend of mine who I work with. “Yo Ben, do you know who was in the freezers last? Most of the trays are soggy and sticky from moldy berries. They’re all sticking together. I am going to try to fix it, but if I don’t I’ll have to tell Walter. You know he won’t be happy if this much has to go to waste. Lemme know if you know anything about it.”
My heart felt like it got shot with a rifle. A hot sensation spread from my toes to my fingertips. ‘It was MY fault that my Sam has to deal with it,’ I thought in a panic. Now what am I supposed to do? Pacing around the house, I finally made up my mind. ‘I’m going to tell Sam it was me, and then talk to Walter about it tomorrow when I get to work. Yeah, that sounds good.’ I picked up my phone to break the news to Sam. My hand trembled and my palms sweat as I would dread the moment he picked up the phone. I dodged a bullet because it went to voicemail.
“Hey man, uh, just letting you know that it was me who did the, uh, freezing. It, it was just a long day and m-my mind wandered. It was an honest mistake. I’m sorry you have to deal with it. I’ll make it up to you. How about I buy the slushes for next lunch? We can figure something out. Anyways, I’ll tell Walter it was me tomorrow morning. Catch you tomorrow.” My heart had a revival. I fessed up to what I had done and did what was right.
This feeling did not last long because the thought of having to tell Walter it was my fault that those berries went to waste filled my mind. I had a hard time sleeping. Tossing, turning, and thinking about what I should say. I finally fell asleep. In what seemed like only a few minutes later, my alarm chimed and it was time for me to get ready for work. I practiced my speech in the car ride on the way there. ‘I am so sorry.’ ‘I promise it won’t happen again.’ I can pick what I messed up without pay if you want’ The time to shine came. I pulled into the parking lot and hopped out of the car. I was greeted by Walter’s naturally stern face. I was not sure whether it was an illusion or not be he seemed extra angry that morning. I was nervous about how this was going to end. ‘Could I get fired?’ I thought to myself, ‘Mom and dad would kill me if I do. Nervous and scared, I cleared my throat and prepared myself. I stared into his stern cold face and began, “Walter, I am so sorry I can explain…”