02:45 – Beep Beep, Beep Beep, the alarm intruded on my consciousness, prying me away from the lurid reality that was the half dream I had been inhabiting. In retrospect, the three Guinness, imbibed in rapid succession the previous evening, had been an unwise decision on my part. Shaking myself awake, I fumbled for my glasses which, for the time being at least, remained elusive. I grabbed my still beeping phone and stumbled in a blind haze down the narrow flight of stairs to the kitchen. Squinting, I located the strategically hidden QR code on the fridge door and scanned it with the phone’s camera. The shrill beeping shut off.
Consciousness flooded back in. No longer a slave to the primal instinct for silence awakened by the nagging tones of the alarm app, I realised with a flash of annoyance, that despite my efforts to remain quiet and not disturb my neighbours at this unholy hour of the day, they were having a party. Cursing their frivolities and careless freedom in the face of my own hectic schedule, I felt my way to the thermostat and turned on the heating for my shower. Basic tasks accomplished I returned to the bedroom to search for my glasses.
Five minutes later, I emerged victorious from my tangled quilt, clutching what I hoped was a still intact pair of glasses. Blinking a few times as they brought the room about me into sharp relief, I briefly wondered what would happen if I never left the bed again. These thoughts were banished when the next wave of laughter cascaded in from next door. Stumbling back down to the kitchen, I gathered the last of the dishes from the night before and halfheartedly finished washing them. I briefly considered a cup of tea before my shower, but was foiled by the taunts of my empty fridge door. No milk.
