As it fell down the stairs the ticking sound became more noticeable. Jeramiah rests in the floral armchair in his living room. Staring at the wall, he watched the hands of the clock tick farther and farther into the future. The time wasting away as he waited. Forgetting what he was waiting for he dissected his brain with his thoughts, one after the other. Suddenly the ticking surrounded his ears. Unable to hear, he became still. The sound started to ripple like water. "Miah? Miah, Miah." His stillness had been broken somehow.
"Miah, hey snap out of it man. We have a lot of work to do. You want to get this done right?" Jeremiah shockingly looked back at his friend who was shaking his mind free. Though, once his face reached his gaze, he looked calm. "What is it Tom?" "I said we have a lot of work to do. We need to get this done on time. You do want to turn this in on time right?" Thomas looked formidably serious. Suddenly, Jeramiah's' ears rose to listen and his eyes became thin and curved like the arch of a chuppah. "You are so serious Tom. Lighten up a bit." Jeremiah pulled out his notepad, "What do you want for brunch? I'll run out in a bit." Thomas sighed. "Look Miah, we got work to do so"- Jeremiah acquired a deadpan expression, "Hey man, I said lighten up. We will get this done, but you have to eat to keep your energy up."- "We need to take this seriously. Also I already had a big breakfast." His face returned to a rainbow like nature, "Then you should have just said that. You are a funny guy, you know that?" He looked down at his hands. His face dropped as he let out an artificial laugh. His face remained anchored as he cheerfully said, "Let's get to work." Thomas walked into the kitchen slowly dragging his feet to the table. He sat down heavily. His heavy head fell into his hands. "What am I supposed to do? He keeps getting worse." Jeremiah closed his eyes and looking up in the darkness he slowly opened them back up. Without a flinch he stared Thomas in the eyes. "You know what Miah? I actually would like to go get brunch. My breakfast hasn't seemed to sustain me like I thought it would." Thomas smiled brightly. "Don't patronize me Thomas. Walls are not thick enough for me to not sense your worry from the kitchen. I'm worrying you, aren't I?" Thomas's' face returned to his usual light scowl. "Yes Miah, you are worrying me. Your laughs are fake. Your cheerful attitude is fake. Your beautiful thin rainbow-like smile eyes are surfacing less and less. I just... I want to help you, but I don't know what to do." Jeremiah's face softened to a warm smile, "Tom, I appreciate you so much. You have been the best friend I have ever had," His tightly closed his eyes as he nodded his head. He opened them back to Thomas's' gaze. "I'm going to be okay. This storm will pass. Also you seem a little too in love with my, "Thin rainbow-like smile eyes", and I love you for that." Thomas stood up and walked out of the room. Jeremiah sighed, " Well, can you get started? I am going to go get something to eat". Jeremiah grabbed his keys and walked out the door.
