Something From Below

Monday

"Hello?"

The phone continued to remain noiseless, nothing coming from the other side of the line. I pulled the phone away from my ear and looked at the device hesitantly before pressing end.

I sighed and put the phone down on my bed, stretching afterwards. Muscles that felt contorted and twisted smoothed themselves out, as I pushed out each limb. Sitting up, I grabbed the phone and absentmindedly began to flick through the home pages filled with apps of all type and function.

Nothing seemed all that interesting and my attention began to drift to thoughts of what I had to do today. The day was still young but a gnawing sense of urgency was growing. I needed to get moving but I felt kind of lazy, sort of complacent and didn't wish to move from my bed. I felt at peace, perhaps like a zen monk who's found a sense of ease within the days troubles.

Grumbling slightly, I got up and looked at myself in the mirror. Everything good there, besides a need for a shower. I continued along in my sweep of the bedroom, noting nothing of interest. I grabbed a few things from my dresser before heading to the bathroom.

The hallway was poorly lit and made me feel ill at ease. I don't know why but this hallway has always caused me issues of some sort, whether an irrational fear or some issue I had with the lights not working or suddenly stopping and starting working.

I quickly headed through the connecting pathway and into the bathroom, an equally dingy room but passable room due to a paint colour that I liked quite a bit. Luckily there were no electrical issues here, nothing unusual with the water or anything like that. A perfectly normal room.

I placed my clothes on the counter and began to undress from the previous day, having slept in my clothes, a habit I'd acquired some time ago due to a fervent work schedule. I hadn't really moved past the habit and found sleeping fully clothed to be a sort of relaxing thing, if sometimes annoying due to getting caught in tangled clothes.

None the less, I felt quietly pleased with my preferences, irrational or not. Well I supposed this wasn't irrational, merely quirky, though there was a lack of rationale beyond the once dire schedule.

Staring at the clothes pile, I caught myself and began to jump into the shower. I turned on the water and hot lava began to spill from the spout. I washed myself in the heat and began to soap up a loofa. Using the utmost efficiency, I washed and was quickly onto shampoo. A blab there, a bla-

RING RING RING

I stopped in the shower, feeling a sense of frustration and unease.

Who'd be calling me, right now?

I don't really talk to many and stay inside,

partially due to my own introvertedness and partially due to a recent viral pandemic that had swept the world, killing thousands and injuring or sickening thousands more. While the issue wasn't too severe, a lack of seriousness quickly spiralled into blooming case numbers. No one but the ignorant dared laugh at the virus or take things less serious than needed.

The phone continued to ring as I mentally debated myself, and I listened as it stopped.

I continued washing my hair, before getting out of the shower, drying myself and dressing.

The air was cool as I exited the warm bathroom and I found myself looking for a hoodie. It wasn't on the bed, in the closet, or... wait.. the laundry basket! I pulled the hoodie out and put it on, feeling much warmer already.

What to do now, I thought, sitting in the desk chair near my bed, facing a computer. The screen glared back at me, flooding my eyes with led intensity. I looked to the side and then swiveled around, yawning. It was only 10:30 but I found myself bored as ever, with nothing to do for the day.