Tragically Yours

| 16 |

A sigh of content escapes my lips before an excruciating sound of beeping ruined my half awake state. I desperately want to go back to sleep to continue my dream where I'm finally hanging out with Gail again. Why did I even bother having an alarm clock? Especially since I don't need to wake up this early because I don't have work today. My vacation days haven't ended yet, so why did I set up an alarm? I groggily try to reach for my phone on the nightstand. Once I feel the familiar smooth screen of my phone, I pull it closer to me to check the time. The screen flashes brightly at my face, making me close my eyes for a second before staring at it again. Suddenly, a groan came out of my throat once I learned that it's only 5 am.

I lay flatly on my back on the comfort of my bed, staring blankly at the white ceiling above. My mind is having a hard time gathering all its consciousness before starting my day. I could go back to sleep and try to sleep until the next day, but I can't since I have things to do today. Instead of pushing my entire body out of bed to begin the day, I keep on staring at the ceiling without nudging a single muscle. An idea pops in my head. What if I buy a projector and project an aurora borealis to my ceiling? It would definitely change the whole bland feeling of the ceiling without ever trying to paint it entirely. Besides, I'm uncertain if Ms. Jess would allow me to change the paint color of the ceiling, so a projector is the best way to change the ceiling.

After that thought died down, I slowly pushed myself to a sitting position, making sure I haven't accidentally warped my vision into a different dimension. It's weird how eyes could do that when pushing the body up quickly. Once I'm confident enough that my vision won't play tricks with me, I scoot myself over the edge of the bed, planting both feet on the cold wooden floor. Closing my eyes as I focus on my breathing. I count up to ten before opening my eyes again to make sure I'm actually awake and not in a daze state.

Once that's done, I slowly stood up on my feet and strolled out of the bedroom and into the bathroom. When I'm in front of the sink, I turn the faucet on and gather some water into my bowl-shaped hands to splash it on my face. Nothing will wake me right up with cold water splashing directly to my face. Plus, it'll get rid of those sleep crusts near my eyes. One final splash of water on my face to make sure all of these sleep crusts are gone entirely, I reach out for the towel hanging beside the sink and dry my face up.

After making my entire body away from the cold water, it's time to brush my teeth. Reaching out for my toothbrush, squeezing some decent amount of toothpaste on it. I guide the toothbrush into my mouth and begin to brush my teeth. Staring directly at myself in the mirror as I brush my teeth at a decent pace. Not too hard that it'll damage my teeth, while not being too careful that it isn't thoroughly cleaned. It's wonderful how much a person can learn a lot of useful information by being a journalist who writes online articles. When I feel satisfied by my brushing, I spit out the foam that forms inside my mouth as I grab the mouth wash to rinse some excess out.

After cleaning my toothbrush, I grab the shaving cream and apply it on my face. Once every crevice of my jaw and upper lip is covered with shaving cream, I pick up my razor and begin to shave the morning stubble on my face. I remember Ethan suggesting that I should grow a beard since he'll think it'll look good on me, but the sheer image of myself with a beard doesn't seem to fit me. Ethan even recommends that I should at least keep the stubble on my face, but I declined his suggestion since I don't like the feeling of sharp tiny hairs on my jaw. Once I've shaved off all the shaving cream on my face, I gather one last bowl of water in my hands and splash it on my face.

Drying my face one last time with the towel before exiting out the bathroom. I make my way to the kitchen to brew some coffee. As I wait for my coffee to brew, I stare at the nearest window in the kitchen. The sun had decided to show its rays into the sky showing to everyone that it's morning. I spot several friends jogging together on the sidewalk, and a sigh escapes my lips. As much as I want to jog my way to the gym and work out during this beautiful early morning day, I've decided to just stay at home, enjoying the solitude. Besides, my entire workout routine only occurs once a week-sometimes thrice if I need to blow some steam. But today seems to be quite calming to waste the day on working out instead of relaxing in the morning.