## 1. THE STORY

### The Last Pull

At four o’clock the press began to knock.

Mara knew the sound: not a breakdown, not yet, but a warning from the old machine’s loose bearing. On the counter, beneath a jar of dried-up ink rollers, lay the repair estimate. The shop had until closing to put money toward it. Two hundred and twenty dollars still had to come from somewhere.

Ivo stood by the paper rack, holding the theater’s banner proof against the window. “They need these tonight. The red’s good. We should run them first.”

“First isn’t the same as best,” Mara said. She had spread the afternoon’s orders across the cutting table, each on a separate slip. “We have eighty dollars for materials. One hundred and twenty minutes on the press. Payments come after the work.”

“The banners are the reason the theater called us.”

“And they use thirty dollars and fifty minutes for a hundred and twelve back.”

Ivo lowered the proof. Outside, a bus sighed at the corner. The shop smelled of warm metal and the citrus cleaner Mara used on the rollers.

She made her first list in pencil: posters, programs, tickets, postcards. Eighty dollars in paper and ink, one hundred and fifteen minutes of machine time. Two hundred and ninety-two dollars would come in when the customers collected their orders. After the materials, that left two hundred and twelve; after the shop’s thirty-five-dollar operating expense, one hundred and seventy-seven for the repair.

“Four jobs, no banners,” Ivo said. “You can say it like it’s tidy.”

“It isn’t tidy.” Mara tapped the repair estimate. The deadline was printed in red. “It’s what fits.”

He looked at the banner proof again. “They’ll think we don’t care.”

Before she could answer, Nessa from the theater pushed through the door with a cardboard tube under one arm. She had red stage paint on her thumb. “Ivo said you were running the banners.”

“I said I wanted them run,” Ivo replied.

Mara held up the proof. “I haven’t started anything. I need to tell you what’s possible.”

Nessa glanced at the estimate on the table. “If it’s a choice between our banners and the press, don’t wreck the press for us.”

Ivo’s jaw tightened. “That isn’t what I’m asking.”

Then the phone rang. Mara listened, one hand resting on the order slips. A supplier had adjusted an account credit; the shop’s materials float was not eighty after all. It was sixty-six. No other money had arrived. The press still had two hours.

Mara set down the receiver and crossed out her first list. “We haven’t bought anything. We can change the plan.”

Ivo leaned over the table. “Keep the programs. We need those for the show.”

“Programs and postcards cost fifty-two and bring in a hundred and eighty-six,” Mara said, writing. “Add posters and tickets: sixty-six in materials, a hundred minutes, two hundred and seventy-five in payments. That leaves two hundred and nine after materials, then one hundred and seventy-four toward the repair.”

She paused. The numbers looked neat. The knock from the press did not.

“What if we drop postcards?” Ivo asked. “Keep the programs and do the banners.”

“Programs and banners are fifty-four dollars of materials, ninety minutes, and two hundred and two in payments. After the expense, one hundred and thirteen toward the repair.”

“That’s the theater,” he said.

“That’s a hundred and thirteen.”

Nessa unrolled the banner proof over the table. The paper curled back at the corners. She pressed it flat with both hands. “Mara’s right about the money. I don’t want our name on the order if it means the shop misses the repair again.”

Ivo looked at her, then at the proofs. “You’re asking me to go back with nothing?”

“No,” Mara said. “Take the proof. Tell them the shop can’t print it today. Ask them to hold the design. We can talk again after we know what the repair costs beyond this bill.”

He didn’t take the proof right away. Mara slid it toward him anyway.

The press knocked once, then settled into its low hum. She gathered the revised slips: posters, programs, tickets, bookmarks. The bookmarks were a small job, but the four orders together used exactly sixty-six dollars in materials and one hundred minutes. Their payments added to two hundred and seventy-five. After materials and the fixed expense, one hundred and seventy-four remained for the repair, leaving forty-six still to find.

Ivo picked up the theater proof. “I’ll tell them the truth,” he said. The words sounded like a concession, but he didn’t leave.

At closing, the finished orders sat in tied stacks beside the register, warm at the edges from the press. Mara entered the payments due and counted the repair contribution again. One hundred and seventy-four. A supporter had mentioned that a donor might give a hundred dollars tonight. Might. No message came, no pledge, no envelope.

Ivo stood at the door with the banner proof tucked under his arm. “They said they’ll keep the artwork ready,” he told her.

Mara turned the lock. The shop was short of the repair goal by forty-six dollars, and the possible gift remained only a possibility. Tomorrow, she would call the repair shop and tell them exactly what they had. Tonight, the press was quiet, the completed orders were waiting for pickup, and Ivo stayed to help stack the chairs.

## 2. THE RECEIPT

```json
{
  "initial": {
    "orders": ["A", "B", "C", "D"],
    "materials": 80,
    "minutes": 115,
    "revenue": 292,
    "order_surplus": 212,
    "repair_contribution": 177,
    "shortfall": 43
  },
  "revised": {
    "orders": ["A", "B", "C", "E"],
    "materials": 66,
    "minutes": 100,
    "revenue": 275,
    "order_surplus": 209,
    "repair_contribution": 174,
    "shortfall": 46
  },
  "donation_confirmed": false
}
```

Order surplus is customer payments minus materials. Repair contribution is order surplus minus the fixed $35 operating expense; the original materials float is not counted as fundraising.

For the initial limits, A+B+C+D uses $80 and 115 minutes for $292 in payments: $212 order surplus and $177 repair contribution. For the revised limits, A+B+C+E uses $66 and 100 minutes for $275 in payments: $209 order surplus and $174 repair contribution.

A feasible competing revised plan is B+D+C: it uses $62 and 90 minutes, with $224 in payments. Its $162 order surplus yields $127 toward repairs after the expense.

## 3. THE PUBLIC UPDATE

Today’s completed orders will contribute **$174** toward the shop’s repair bill, leaving **$46** to reach the $220 goal. A supporter mentioned that a donor might give $100 tonight, but no gift or commitment has been received.