1 My Life Before [Prologue]
Rrrrring
Rrrrrrrrrrrrrring
Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring
The blaring alarm - with continuously more annoying screeches - rang throughout my room, awakening me from my already weak slumber. Like in any other cliché movie, I slapped my phone's screen to turn it off but that obviously didn't work. My head slowly moved up by itself away from the comfort of my pillow to check the screen and find the button.
﹁
8:30AM
Snooze
Stop
﹂
My thumb inched to the stop button and pressed it with as much strength as my sleepy body could use. I sunk my head and my phone into the pillow one more time before getting up and heading to the bathroom. My eyes stung from the piercing light so I rubbed them forcefully but that only made it worse.
"Just like every morning I guess."
Talking to myself became a habit ever since I started living alone. It sort of made it less lonely which is honestly sad, however, there was no time to worry about that. I stared at myself in the mirror. Shabby clothes, rugged hair, and to make sure my luck remains bad, an awful pimple on the left end of my jawline. I washed my face first then covered it with a bandaid.
To make things additionally worse, my toothpaste ran out right after I used it. I groaned in annoyance and brushed my teeth, at least the minty taste was somewhat pleasant. Finishing off, I swished water in my mouth and spat out the combination of foam and water.
The light above me slightly flickered, something new to happen.
I patted down my hair with my hands and headed back into my bedroom to get dressed. Another normal day couldn't be finished without another normal outfit. I hopped into jet-black cargo pants, a white shirt, and a black fleece on top.
"I need to get more clothes."
The outfit, which I wore probably 5 times this month already, stared at me in disappointment. Sure it has only been 10 days into the month but at least I washed the clothes before wearing them again. Nobody even paid that much attention to me at work so not like they'd care about what clothes I wore.
The phone, which got to rest longer than me, was pulled away from the pillow by my hand as I wanted to check the time. I flipped it around to see the screen and pressed the button to turn it on.
﹁
8:57AM
Wednesday 10th February
﹂
I unlocked the phone with face ID and searched for the bus time app. The small blue icon with a white clock on it expanded and filled my screen with just one tap. The contents faded in and I selected the bus stop that was close to my house. Even in school I always wanted to live near the bus stop I took so this was sort of a dream come true.
﹁
Bus-Stop 81AJ6
87X: 7m, 16m, 28m...
439B: 3m, 20m, 27m...
﹂
My bus was the 87X so I had a lot of time to get there. That app was surprisingly accurate, the largest inaccuracy I have seen was only 30 seconds.
I picked up the plain leather satchel that leaned against the front of my bed and hang it off my right shoulder. Its size was perfect for fitting in between my torso and my arm. Not too big, not too small.
Heading out the door, the chilly morning air hit my face and woke me up more than I expected. I always preferred the cold over the hot so the feeling of a cold face, especially after it got warmed up in my house, felt divine though the sensation got weaker every day. I guessed I was just getting used to it.
The alleyway that led to the bus stop was surprisingly clean; the corpse of the rat from yesterday was gone as well. Poor thing, half of its body was missing. I hurriedly paced through the alleyway and reached the slightly busy street. I didn't live in a packed location per se but the street was still fairly crowded in the mornings.
My bus stop, as usual, was practically empty. Only a handful of people, including me, took either the 87X or 439B as they went far away from here. The bus ride to my workplace itself took almost 50 minutes depending on the traffic, and with barely any stops in between the bathroom situation got bad easily. At least there was no traffic this time around.
When I finally got to get off the bus, I checked my phone again.
﹁
9:47AM
Wednesday 10th February
﹂
"Perfect."
I had enough time to go to the shop and buy some breakfast plus lunch. I never ate at home. My hunger was still sleeping until noon, unlike the rest of my body. When I came in, the owner behind the register greeted me with an infectious smile.
"Wyatt! How are you darling?"
"I'm doing great Miss Rivera, what about you?"
"I'm feeling old, especially when you keep calling me that. I always tell you to just call me Gill."
Grabbing all the food I needed, I walked back to the counter and placed them down. Miss Rivera scanned them quickly and I felt rude for not responding so I did now.
"That just doesn't feel right."
"Forget the manners sometimes, you're too good for this world."
Her feeble hand rubbed the top of my head and slightly messed up my hair, but since it was Miss Rivera, I didn't mind. I left the shop once I paid and packed the food into my bag. I bought a yoghurt with oats for breakfast and two BBQ chicken sandwiches for lunch. Though I rarely get hungry throughout the day, when I do I can stomach a few courses.
Once my mom made the joke that I was preparing to hibernate.
I got to the company at 9:59AM. With one minute to spare, I hopped onto the elevator to get to my floor. When the doors closed, I noticed the freshly painted sign.
"Welcome to Kana Tech! Est. 1994."
Reading it out in a mocking voice, I slightly giggled at the image of my supervisor repeating that. He'd always brag about his seniority and how he had worked here since the company was established, and yet he still wasn't even a Senior Supervisor. Someone who joined the company at the same time as me, two years ago, already outranks him.
Like clockwork, my consciousness detached from my mind for the entire day so it went by in an instant. I didn't even know how that was possible but it just happened the moment I'd sit down and get to work at the low-quality computer.
I took the same journey back home, making sure to visit and say goodnight to Miss Rivera, and by luck, there was still no traffic. After finally getting home, I checked my phone again.
﹁
6:17PM
Wednesday 10th February
﹂
Swiping up, I searched for new notifications.
﹁
6:17PM
Wednesday 10th February
No new notifications
﹂
Nothing. Not even a new promotion from a random app I installed in high school. Great.
"Ggghhhhhh"
I raised my hands into the air and stretched my back as far as I could. The bubbles in my spine popping stimulated my ears and brought me satisfaction. There was nothing better than a good crack of joints.
I dropped the work satchel back into its designated area and I hang the fleece on the peg attached to my wall. The desire to just plop onto my bed surged over my entire nervous system but I forced myself to go clean myself up in the bathroom. On the way back, I remembered to buy a new tube of toothpaste so I pulled the old one out of its spot and threw it in the bin. The successor took its predecessor's spot.
The water from the showerhead poured out, gradually warming up. When it became warm enough, I hopped in and let the water soak into my skin. Even if I enjoyed cold air, hot water for showers was equally amazing. The weird 'manly' smell of the shower gel tainted my body but the pleasant fruity scent of my shampoo offset it. Finishing my shower, I wrapped a towel around my waist and stepped out to the mirror.
I took out my toothbrush from the wall holder and brushed my teeth with it and the new toothpaste. Once the two-minute countdown in my head ended, I spat out the foam with the help of some water and got to washing my face. Some may think it is stupid to do this routine this early in the day but if I don't do it now, I won't be able to do it at night.
Drying off my body, I threw the towel onto a horizontal rod so it could dry. I threw on some random comfortable clothes and headed into the tiny kitchen. I made some quick instant noodles for dinner - if Miss Rivera found out how often I ate those she'd have killed me.
After finishing them, I finished off some work on my laptop at the desk that stood opposite my bed. It was some bland reports I had to fill out. My position on the team wasn't even that major, and my team being one of the least important did not help my case. I barely got recognised no matter how hard I worked so I just started to do the bare minimum.
Now that the reports were done, I hopped into bed and the eternal darkness of sleep surged through my brain until I saw the galaxy instead. The sight, even if just a figment of my imagination, was beautiful and sent me into the same old sleep.
