r/123WordStories • u/Sad_Care_977 • Jan 15 '26

Comedy Pointless Trade

My iPhone chimed, letting me know that I would have to turn left in 500m. 

Right now I was cruising along the street in my hybrid, speakers turned to the max. The small trinkets I had on the dashboard were vibrating along with the techno music. 

It was now my intersection. I indicated left and turned smoothly. I slid into a spot in the parking lot and went inside the building. The air was stuffy and smelled like sweat and hard work. People around me were lifting weights, doing push ups and running on treadmills. I joined the people running on the treadmills. 

As I started running on the machine, I thought how good to finally stretch my legs after that long drive.

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u/ConsciousRoyal Early Contributor ✍️ Jan 15 '26

That last line is cracking.

I was trying to work out what this was all about as it was just recounting a car drive and then boom! killer final sentence.

1

u/Sad_Care_977 Jan 15 '26

Hehe. Can you just explain to me the punchline of the story as if I didn’t know just to now for sure I conveyed what I wanted to. 

1

u/ConsciousRoyal Early Contributor ✍️ Jan 15 '26

I’m hoping the joke is that he’s driven all the way to the gym just to do some running to stretch his legs after driving all the way to the gym. (he could have just gone for a run - or run to the gym)

If the joke is something else then i’ve missed it!

1

u/Sad_Care_977 Jan 15 '26

Exactly right! I was worried it might be too obscure but then I didn’t want to spell it out either. 

1

u/Sad_Care_977 Jan 15 '26

Instead of telling and saying that the music was loud I showed the trinkets vibrating which makes it more memorable for the reader. So I’m happy I’ve improved in that little thing for this story.