Ted woke up in a hot sweat. It occured to him that he was twenty five years old. He had no idea how he got there. Well, this is not true. He did have some idea. Obviously his mom and his dad had decided to have a baby some time ago in the heavy throws of the 1990s. Thereafter, everything that lead to this bleak Monday morning was based on some decision that he had made, or one that someone else had made, which affected him in some way down the line. He just couldn’t figure out how those events all connected. On this bleak, overcast Monday morning, there was no sense in trying to figure it out right away. There were more pressing questions to be answered, like why on earth had he bothered to open his eyes?
Suddenly, the clouds parted. The sun pierced through his bedroom window. It was mocking him yet again. “I’m going to have a better day than you are!” It seemed to say. Obviously it didn’t actually say that, because who in their right mind talks to the sun? Ted was no ordinary man.
“I’ll show you!” Screamed Ted.
Then, purely for spite, Ted used all the strength he could muster, at 7:36 in the morning, to lift his left leg from the relative safety of the covers. He was attempting to plant his foot firmly on the floor. It worked on the third try.
As soon as he did that, Ted felt a wave of accomplishment wash over him. This was immediately followed by a sharp pain in his upper thigh. Ted screamed in agony. It happened again. Due to the age of Ted’s humble twin bed mattress, a spring had decided to poke through and stab him in a vulnerable place. It could have been worse. Ted touched his now fully exposed thigh. No blood. That was fortunate.
Ted stumbled around the corner to his apartment’s small kitchen. He decided to have his lucky Monday breakfast. that consisted of two greasy breakfast sausages, and apple juice. Since the bed spring fiasco had cost Ted precious morning routine time, he decided to let the sausages cook while he took a shower. He had to get to the temporary work agency before all the good jobs were taken for the day.
Two minutes later, a fully lathered Ted was greeted by the antagonizing sound of his smoke alarm. Panicked, and very naked, Ted ran out to see what was the matter. His sausages had used up all the water he had bathed them in. Now they were smoking. Ted had a grease fire on his hands. If he wasn’t careful, this metaphor could become reality. Thinking too quickly, Ted grabbed the nearby fire extinguisher and put out the blaze. Unfortunately, he still saw it necessary to eat his badly burnt sausages. Seemingly undaunted by this poor decision, Ted brushed his teeth, put on his old mangled suit, and rushed out the door, locking it behind him.
Unfortunately, it was at this point that he realized his keys were lying on the kitchen table next to the dirty breakfast plate. That would mean another $20 unlocking fee for the land lord upon Ted’s eventual return from the outside world later that day. Hopefully he would be able to pick up some decent temporary work today. Surely someone needed some unskilled labour.
As it turns out, finishing High School is not that different from dropping out as far as Ted’s employment opportunities seemed to suggest. Still, he must continue on. The insatiable drive to be useful, in whatever way he could, beckoned him. Ted knew there was life beyond constructing cardboard boxes or cleaning up construction debris. It seemed unreachable for a failure like him. Even failures have to pay the rent, he thought to himself. Ted shuffled down the hall toward the elevator. Today was going to be a long day.
***
Stay tuned for the next chapter.