Alarm Clock

I fell to bed, exhausted, but the annoying beep of my alarm clock screeched its need for attention.

It was 6 AM, but I was already tired of the day. I haven’t yet had a wink of sleep, not since I had been finishing a project I’d been working on for the past week, with only a 2 AM meeting with my boss to break my concentration on it. (Thank you, outsourcing, for letting me have clients from a thousand or so miles away.)

And now, it’s 6 AM, my usual time to get up. At this time, on any other day, I’d list out my to-dos, make my bed, and rush out to go to the gym. But today, after getting up to kill my alarm clock (it was, of course, on the other side of the room), I slunk back into bed instead. 

“I’m tired,” I murmured to no one in particular. “I want to rest.”

Just then, I heard a familiar beep. I knew what it was for; it was that little alarm I set for myself every day since she went away. I scrambled out of bed and picked up the phone I left on my desk. With a slide of my thumb, the screen was unlocked and her cheery voice filled the room.

“I’ll see you soon, love. Let’s work on being amazing people and crushing all our goals, all right? We need to, so we can finally be together. I’ll see you soon.”

I sniffed, and brushed off a tear that fell down my cheek. This was for her, I remembered. For her, for us.

I took a deep breath and willed myself to get out of bed, when I heard her playful laugh. “And please,” the fairy voice continued, “learn to rest when you’re tired, will you?”

I chuckled. Slowly, I lay back down. Holding my phone close to my heart, I smiled and tried to get back to sleep.

–

Image source: deviantart.com/nikeecc/art/Photography-Bottled-706691262
First written March 3, 2018.
#151