Fresh Start -- Tomorrow

Written for Deadly Sins Contest. - Sloth

 

Ann wrapped her head in her oversized blanket at let out a massive groan. She hated the sound of her alarm clock more than any other sound in the world. The noise of a dentist office is more appealing than the wretched beep beep beep of the damned alarm clock. She stretched as far as her body would let her, grasping at the air, hoping to find the snooze button. The very same snooze button she had already pushed four times.

            With every push of the button she erased a task off her morning to do list. The first push meant she wasn’t going to hop in the shower, instead she would throw her hair into a rubber band and call it good. The second push of the button meant a bowl of cereal for breakfast rather than pancakes and eggs. The third push meant skipping breakfast. The fourth push meant wearing a wrinkled shirt to work and the most recent push meant calling in late for work.

            Her fifth snooze ran out of time and she finally crawled out of bed. She headed toward her closet, tripping over the trash, trinkets, and laundry that cluttered every last inch of her bedroom floor. She pushed her closet door open and stared at all the empty hangers. None of her clothes were clean so she sniffed around the floor finding the cleanest pair of pants and the shirt with the least amount of wrinkles. She threw them on, put her hair up in a ponytail, and doused herself with cheap perfume.

            This was her daily routine.

~

            “What do you mean I got passed up for the promotion? Who else applied for the position?” Ann leaned against the doorway as she confronted her manager, Stewart.

            “No one, they decided to hire outside the company.” Stewart answered as he shoved a large piece of chocolate cake in his mouth.

            “What? I’ve been with this company for three years and they still don’t think I would make a good shift manager. That’s bullshit.”

            “It’s not like you try around here. You’re always late for work and you show up looking like you just rolled out of bed. You’ve done nothing to better the work place; you do whatever you need to in order to keep your job and nothing above and beyond. What did you expect?” Stewart now crammed his face with potato salad. “Didn’t you wear that shirt yesterday?”

            Ann fell silent. She knew it was true, but she expect three years of employment to mean something to someone. It obviously didn’t mean a damn thing. She was currently working for people who started at the company months and years after her, they managed to get ahead quickly while Ann was stuck at the registers making nine dollar an hour. At twenty four years old it was no longer something she wished to do. She sat in the break room and weighed her options. Only to come to the conclusion she was no good at anything and would have to flourish where she was planted. Meaning she would have to start being on time for work, being presentable for work, and going above and beyond.

            Ann left work that day with a new sense of direction. This time next year she would be a supervisor. Perhaps even more.

~

            When Ann got home from work she went straight to her bedroom and shoved a load of laundry in the washing machine. While the clothes were being washed she grabbed a trash bag and began throwing miscellaneous junk away.

            The washing machine timer beeped and she transferred her clothes to the dryer, but decided she didn’t want to go upstairs for another load of laundry. Instead she logged onto Myspace and began perusing the chat rooms.

            The dryer stopped. She heard the alert. She kept chatting, telling herself she was going to get up any minute and take the clothes out. Any minute turned into hours. She finally glance at the time, it was a little after two in the morning. She grunted, she had to be at work seven am.

            She ran upstairs to her room, still tripping over all the trash, trinkets and laundry she promised herself she was going to take care of today. She set her alarm clock for six am and promised herself tomorrow will be different. Tomorrow I’ll wake up and look presentable.

 

Six am rolled around. Ann moaned and reached for the snooze button.

 

Her daily routine ensued.

Author's Note

I mostly did this for a writing exercise. I don't plan on adding to or tweeking this. It was what it is :P

Reviews

[Angel's Lady]

Perfect! Even your author's note fit! haha Perfect! Congratulations on winning in the contest. Wonderfully written, exactly on task, and absolutely a joy to read! Great write!

[Nikki]

Terrifying story. Hits a little too close to home for me. Only I'm more pathetic...I'm 34. :(