The Construction Worker
by Zoé Mahfouz
The construction worker wore a shirt that said “100% Pro.” The other wore one that said “The Fastest in the West.” They coughed Marlboro breath and used their mouths to bite the screwdriver bit loose from the power drill, turn the whipped-cream toilet lid into a tool bench, and treat their house keys as tools. The 100% Pro dropped one of his tools onto the neighbor’s terrace, and The Fastest in the West used a fishing rod made from electrical cord, tipped with a magnet, to pick it up. The cutting tools with the sharpest edges melted into the subsurface layer of the oak hardwood flooring, and sometimes a human foot would excavate red streaks, revealing what looked like a wild strawberry shortcake. If you played spin-the-rolling-pin long enough between their black coffee no-sugar breaks, you could try to line up where the next baking fail would occur. Your hanging dress would start spitting soot-colored sprinkles, your walls crying caramelized rust, and your bathroom floor exhibiting lemon meringue blotches. Then you’d bubble-wrap everything, including the 100% Pro and The Fastest in the West. And you’d wait, anxiously, for the first bubble to burst, a bench scraper in hand.
Zoé Mahfouz is an award-winning French actress, content creator, screenwriter, and writer whose work spans fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. She holds a Master’s degree in Screenwriting from the London Film School. Her comedy screenplays have been recognized at international film festivals, including Canadian Screen Award-qualifying events. Her voice, described as “very tongue-in-cheek” and “kookie,” is reflected in work published in over 80 journals worldwide, with pieces translated and anthologized in Japanese print publications, notably Ginyu and The Asahi Shimbun. She is the author of ADHD in D Minor (North Meridian Press, 2026), which received a 5-star review from Reader Views, as well as the chapbooks Harper's Order (Black Sunflowers Poetry Press, 2026) and Borges Must Be Rolling in His Grave (Dancing Girl Press, 2025).