It was 8:00 a.m. when the alarm clock wailed, interrupting the silence from an empty room.
'WAKE THE HELL UP!' it seemed to scream with its ear piercing siren.
Within the wrinkled bed sheets, only a mound of matted dark-brown hair could be seen sticking out. The fluffy head of hair groaned in utter annoyance as a slender hand slithered its way across the comforter and towards the little black alarm clock. It searched aimlessly for the snooze button before beating it to shut up.
After the thrashing; a young tired looking man rolled around from under the covers, sitting up on the bed scratching his scruffy chin lazily. Slowly but surely, he made his way into the bathroom and into the shower, leaning his head on the icy tiled wall.
He let out a heavy sigh but not a sigh someone would make out of exhaustion or tiredness, it was one of distraught. Bruises were easily visible on his flesh when he shifted more into the yellow light that shone dimly above the shower. White trailing scars were slashed on his light skin along with some newly formed gashes alongside his shoulder blades and spine. The warm welcoming water had finished what the alarm clock had started.
After a quick, effortless job of a shave and a swift brush of his short, mud colored hair, the boy shuffled to the main room of his filthy apartment. He didn't have time for breakfast, or more like he didn't have an appetite. His eyes then glanced over at the now dented clock. Its bright neon green numbers read 8:46.
"8:46?!!" screamed the boy. "I'm late! Oh crap I'm late!!" With that, he bolted out the door screaming curses, nearly plowing it down in the process.
The apartment room was now quiet again, and empty, emptier now that Dante left for his dull job. The building was old and about ready to fall apart, although, it was all the poor guy could afford. The paint on the wall was peeling, the wooden floors were cracked and probably unstable in some areas, the whole place smelt like mildew, but his room made the rest of the building look like a relatively nice motel. Nothing was in his apartment except for a crusty futon bed, an old MC radio, and a clock on a three-legged table.
As Dante streamed down the front steps of the dulled out building, a sudden tight feeling dreaded his stomach. His fast pace suddenly slowed to an utter stop as he gazed at his car, which he always parked in front of the apartment, in shock. His prized possession, a banana yellow Volvo, laid in ruins; its body was completely smashed in from which looked like a baseball bat, and its windshield was caved in from a cinderblock. Dante felt a large lump that felt as if it could not be swallowed develop in his throat.
His life was constantly full of unpleasant surprises. This was just a slice of what he usually suffered. On what was left of the door of his car was the words 'mine, mine, mine' carved deep within the metal.
Dante sighed heavily and he felt like he nearly wanted to cry. Instead, he just gritted his teeth and headed to the bus stop. He sat on the graffiti covered bench. It took a while until the city bus reached him. He paid the bus fee and sat down on the warn-in seats. Did he dare look at his wrist watch? He somehow already knew what the merciless watch would say. He stretched out his hand to make his sleeve slide back and he cocked back his arm and gazed at his cheap fake leather watch. 9:15. 'oh! Only three hours late!' he thought sarcastically.
It was 10:08 when the young man finally reached to his job. He hesitantly walked to his cubical wondering if it was too late to just stay home. The office was quiet and calm. Only the annoying sounds of people typing madly away at their computers, the copying machine and the usual telephone ring. He swiftly sprang to his cubical which was nearly on the other side of the room. Maybe the boss wouldn't notice that he's hours late! Maybe he could act as if he'd been there the whole time, just quietly working and reading the stupid memos. He continued to dart, sneak and dodge. Almost there! Almost there!! Dante pulled his spinney chair and lowered himself into it. Made it!
