The 'A Fly in the Ointment' short story might be about an individual's journey. Let's say a person is starting a new job that they've always wanted. At first, everything is perfect. The colleagues are friendly, the work is interesting. But then, there's a 'fly in the ointment'. It could be a difficult boss who has a strange quirk that makes the work environment a bit uncomfortable. This little problem then becomes a major focus as the character has to figure out how to deal with it while still enjoying the overall positive aspects of the new job.
It could be about a small but significant problem or flaw within a seemingly good situation. Maybe it's about a character who has almost achieved their dream but then a minor thing, like the 'fly in the ointment', comes along to disrupt it.
Well, often in a short story titled 'A Fly in the Ointment', it might center around a person or a group who are in the midst of a positive development. For instance, a community that is building a new park. Everything is going great until they discover that there's a legal issue, which is the 'fly in the ointment'. This small issue then creates a series of events that tests the characters and shows how they deal with setbacks in the face of what was supposed to be a wonderful project.