Anticipation

Written in the wee hours of the morning

5:51am.

The house is silent aside from the monotonous ticking of the clock. I’m sat on the sofa, alone, with a lump in my throat, nervously scratching my leg. The road outside, usually teeming with cars, is silent too. It would seem that everyone is still tucked up warmly in bed, safe in the soothing arms of sleep.

Except for me. I cannot sleep anymore.

I want something to distract my busy mind. I want the postman to deliver some mail or for a good film to come on television. But it’s too early. Hell, I can’t even eat my breakfast. My antibiotics need to be taken an hour before the consumption of any food. Only forty five minutes have passed since I almost choked on that wretched thing which clung to my dry throat like Velcro.

Whatever the contents of that envelope, the Envelope of Destiny, it will change my life. If a solitary ‘U’ is stamped neatly on each of the three pieces of paper, I may spend the rest of my days wearing an orange fluorescent jacket and pushing discarded trolleys across supermarket car parks. If the letters stamped on the papers reside earlier in the alphabet…no, I mustn’t jinx myself.

In books and films, characters who are experiencing feelings of nervousness or dread usually smoke a cigarette or drink some form of alcoholic beverage. I don’t smoke and I don’t think the mixing of alcohol and antibiotics is what the professionals recommend.

Seven minutes until I can busy myself with preparing breakfast. Should I turn on the television? Perhaps not. I know for a fact that the BBC and ITV will talk about nothing but the fates of thousands of eighteen year olds across the country.

Three minutes. F**k it. By the time I’ve fed the cat, opened the kitchen window, poured myself some cereal and then drowned said cereal in an avalanche of milk, three minutes will have definitely passed.

Farewell, my dear notebook! The next time I scrawl upon your delicately-lined pages, I shall be the owner of three completed A Levels!

Author's Note

I was tired when I wrote this so it's a tad OTT

Reviews

[DaftWriter]

The story has a good flow to it.