By the YU Writers’ Guild
Editor’s Note: Each month, the YU Writers’ Guild accepts submissions for a short story following a specific theme. This month’s theme was “too many chefs” featuring stories where a character finds themselves forced into a situation with an unexpected or unlikely group. Members of the club voted on a short story to be featured in the YU Observer. For the month of March, “Apartment Building” written by Dovid Engelsohn was selected.
Six budding architects stood over the blue construction sheet of an apartment building. Each of the architects were considered the elite of their respective schools. They stared greedily at the blank sheet dreaming of the inches they could design to their dreams.
Mark Krep gave the first suggestion. “It should be modern. Not too modern. Big… but only as big as necessary.”
“MMhmm.” The other architects nodded in agreement. This had been their thoughts exactly.
Mark took a marker and made a large trapezoid on the sheet. “There!” A few of the designers gasped. “Now it is minimalist, and modern.”
Pan gave Mr. Krep a look of shock, and spoke with reprimand. “With all due respect Mr. Krep, I am as much of a minimalist as anyone, when I was a child I ate cheerios with water, however, the design you are suggesting is much too minimal.” From his shirt pocket he took a pen, and traced four triangles cutting into the four sides of the building. He smiled with his hands. “We may lose some square feet, but you can’t quantify the benefit a building gets by adding a little bit of character!”
“MMhmm… character…”
“…very nice…”
“…More of a honeynut girl myself…” The other architects nodded in agreement.
Tracy Ticonderoga cleared her throat. “Our building should be more than just a living space. It should be an ideal! A more perfect world. It should have an accessible, open-air garden of plants and herbs running through its center, an ode to self-sustainability.” She took a pencil and made a circle in the center, titling it ‘A Brighter Future.’
“MMhmm…”
“…Wonderful…”
“…We could put some basil there…”
Ron Cray raised his finger (which was still chubby, but much better then it had been before he began his strict workout routine). “We need gyms. One at every level. Our building will become a champion of fitness and health!” He took a purple crayon and made a rectangle on the left side of the building.
“MMhmm…”
“…Very important…”
“…Calisthenics…”
Chal Ker was the most hippy of the bunch. He wore no less than six seashell necklaces around his neck. “I think it’s important that people don’t feel lost in this building. Everyone should feel like it is their home, and the other inhabitants are their neighbors. We need to make sure there are meditation rooms to decompress, and a floor meeting space where people can mingle.” The seashells around his neck jingled as he made a wide motion over the blueprint, chalking in the prescribed rooms.
“MMhmm…”
“…Relaxing…”
“…Saunas could be nice…”
Hillary Eiter was a woman who stressed intelligence and education. “The people of the apartment building must have researching facilities readily available to them. Our inhabitants should be chasing knowledge. We must have libraries and labs. Lecture halls and think tanks.” She Highlighted a few sections on the blueprint.
“MMhmm…” The other Architects nodded in agreement. Pausing…
They all looked proudly at the construction paper. The structure was big, but only as big as necessary. The sharp edges of the minimalist trapezoid glistened, but the shape was not too minimal thanks to the four triangles cut into the sides. The circle titled ‘Brighter Future’ presented a beautiful utopia built into reality. The gyms would keep the members healthy physically, the meditation rooms emotionally, and the libraries mentally. It was a jarring symphony of all the architect’s dreams and ideals.
The apartment building had everything. Except for apartments.