What Would You Do if You Woke Up and It Was All Gone?
This morning I woke up and rolled over in bed to check my phone. No messages.
This morning I woke up and rolled over in bed to check my phone. No messages.
“Weird,” I thought. My mom always texts me in the morning to remind me I need a better job. I’m underachieving, she says. Just not living up to the family legacy.
Relieved, I rolled out of bed and got dressed to go to my ‘underachieving’ job. I made my coffee, microwaved my breakfast (those egg in a cup things are the shit), and prepared myself for the day. My boss has been a pain lately. But it pays the bills and I haven’t had the guts to leave. I threw on my shoes and rushed out the door.
“Why do you always snooze your alarm?” I asked myself. “Every day you do this, thinking somehow you’ll get up with my first alarm.”
Never do. Probably never will. But I’ll set it early every day anyway.
I arrived at work and found a peculiar sign at the door. “Closed For The Day.”
“Those assholes could’ve told me,” I thought.
Whatever. I’ll take a day off. I didn’t want to be there anyway. My boss always makes the day worse and they dump work on me like I’m some computer.
Still no new text messages. Weird, usually my girlfriend texts me. She’s usually so sweet in texts but I know she’s cheating on me. I can’t leave her, though. Her job is terrible and without my help she’d never pay the bills. And she is usually nice to me. It still hurts she’d cheat on me, but a guy like me isn’t really meant for any better. I’m not great looking and meeting new girls is so hard. She gives me something at least.
I made my way home and stopped at my favorite café. On the rare occasion I woke up early, I’d always stop in for a coffee before work. Another sign on the door. “Closed For Today” it read.
“Shit, it must be a holiday I forgot about,” as I started home.
I decided to call my girlfriend. I know she uses me but usually I hear from her by now. No answer. Her rent was due today and I promised her $250 to cover the part she couldn’t afford. Oh well. Maybe she went out less this month. I’m sure she’d save $250 if she didn’t go out drinking all the damn time.
After I got home, I decided to call my mom. She’s been awful towards me but I was still worried. Dial tone. Weird, but maybe she had to turn her phone off for work. Just to make sure, I called my dad. He always used to beat the shit out of me as a kid and I hated his guts. He kicked me out of the house and refused to pay for my college because I got a B in freshman biology. But I knew he’d answer. Dial tone.
Weird, but relieving. I didn’t want to talk to him anyway. I was just confused. Everything was closed and nobody had texted me. They all make me feel worthless, but they stick around anyway for some reason. Their absence was weird.
At the same time, I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders.
No insults from my mom. No feeling like I didn’t live up to the family name.
No texts from my girlfriend. Whenever she texted me I always wondered if she slept with someone new the night before anyway. This was a nice change.
I still didn’t have to talk to my dad. The scars were enough of a reminder.
Relieved, I went to the fridge. It was only 11:00 in the morning, but I didn’t care. I grabbed a beer and went to the couch. I’d been so busy I fell behind on my favorite show. Time to catch up, I figured. Everything felt weird, but in a good way. No major issues to deal with, just time to myself. For all I knew or cared, all my problems had gone away. I really could get used to this.
*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*
My alarm.
I guess I can keep wishing it was true. Keep wishing my dreams to a reality.
