Hope in Despair

The Beginning

Before the crack of dawn, a man in his early twenty's woke to the sound of an alarm. Alistair's hair was a thick black mess, with no visible part, and he only wore his pajama bottoms. The young man had eyebrows that started out bushy, and as they made their way across his face, they thinned to a slight point. The small nose that found itself blemish free was short and slightly curved downward. Southward were two thick pink lips, that had sharp peaks for the top half. His eyes a dull blue, and all that could be seen in them was emptiness like that of a bottomless pit. Outlining these sad eyes were long thick eyelashes. He got out of bed not with happiness in his heart or hatred for this dreaded day, but out of necessity. Standing up we see he is around five feet and eight inches tall, with sloping shoulders; there doesn't seem to be any noticeable muscle features, no scars, and the only body hair on him was the stubble that he had grown from the day before.

He walked into the master bathroom and flipped the switch to radiate the room with light, but darkness still loomed over the space. Alistair tried the switch a couple more times and with a sigh, "They must've turned the power off." He went back to his room and grabbed his cell to use as a flashlight. He turned the flashlight function on and set the phone down on the sink, so the bathroom could have a tinge of light.

He started the water so it could get warm as he stripped. Alistair stepped into the shower, thankful that his hot water relied on gas. After he was done with the bath, he turned the water off and proceeded to go for his towel that was right next to the tub. Alistair toweled off, stepped out the shower, and moved to the sink. He looked into the mirror and started to brush his teeth, "Why am I doing this again," he thought as he rinsed. Alistair picked up a comb and was about to start on his hair, but then dropped it in the sink. Leaving his hair, a mess was his way of showing that he had already given up on this day.

He got dressed in a pair of black pants, and a company polo. The polo being black with the company's logo stitched on the right side. Walking over to the dresser drawer Alistair opened the top drawer and retrieved two white ankle socks, and sat down on the bed to put them on. From under the bed, he pulled out two simple black sneakers. Instead of untying the laces, Alistair forced his left foot into the first shoe. After his foot was successfully in the sneaker, he fixed the back of it, that had been pushed down, and then he repeated the same step with his right.

Alistair went down the stairs and stopped in the living room. In this area, you could see that he had a blue couch against the wall that the stairs came off of, and there was a: recliner, end table, and glider, across from the sofa. Off to the right against the wall was a gas fireplace. The mantle of this fireplace was dark oak, and the fireplace itself was comprised of bricks that were faded pink. In a few of the blocks were some cracks and the brick, that formed the right corner, had a chunk broken off.

Alistair turned to his right and entered the dining room, and walked through the door that connected to the kitchen. He retrieved a cup from the dish drainer; turned the water on and grabbed himself some water. After he had finished his drink, Alistair turned around and opened the black refrigerator to see what he could use to satiate his hunger. As he opened the door, the light was dead, which confirmed that the power had been turned off. Peering into the black void that was his refrigerator, "I don't know why I even bothered."

Three doorways were leading out of the kitchen: one to Alistair's office, the second led to the rarely used dining area, and the final one led out to the front door. Turning to his right Alistair passed through the doorway that led him to his front entrance. He opened the dark brown door, and as he started to walk out of the house, he said goodbye; although there was no one there to reciprocate his farewell.

Turning to his left; Alistair used the garage door clicker, and as the door climbed a few inches, there came a sputter from the motor. Alistair gave a sigh while walking toward the stuck door. "Guess I need to lift it manually," he said as he bent down. Unfortunately, the door didn't budge an inch. After a couple of tries, he gave up. "Shit, I'll just walk," as he started to walk to his job at Meijor.