Eureka
Stubbing out his umpteenth cigarette of the day into the already overflowing ashtray, Dan pushed himself back into his leather chair, his mouth tasted foul and nothing was going to take away the feeling of decay inside.
Picking up his cup of tea, his face twisted as he spat the cold contents back into the cup.
‘Come on, come on” he forced himself.
His mantra fell on deaf ears; his plea for inspiration was ignored.
‘Give me something…anything…please.’
Glancing at the clock displayed at the bottom of his monitor Dan was gutted that only five minutes had elapsed since his last time check. He was confident that it would have been at least an hour.
Lighting yet another cigarette, feeling repulsed by the smell and taste, he started rocking himself back and forward on the castors of his chair whilst gripping onto to the front of his desk. Hey he thought, this could be a new office workout routine.
Snapping himself back into reality he rose and paced impatiently around his small office.
Yesterday had been the same. Same brick wall and same blankness.
Last night it had come to him though, deep in his dreams. Clear as day.
Why then was he struggling again today? He had entered his office full of confidence but now annoyance and frustration were starting to well up inside him.
‘Bugger this for a game of Soldiers’ he exclaimed and left the room.
Five minutes later, he was getting into a bath. Nice warm water, filled to the brim, encapsulated with bubbles from his Radox bubble bath.
He sank his head under the water enjoying the feeling of tranquillity that swept over him in an instant.
Five minutes later he leaped from the bath like a breeching Humpback Whale, water cascading over the bathroom floor.
Hastily pulling on his robe, he sprinted back to the office still soaked, trailing wet foot marks across the carpet, his unsightly bits jiggled from his exposed body as he jumped in front of his PC.
His fingers danced on the keyboard, the click of his key strokes non-stop.
Forty five minutes later, he was done.
‘Best get the bathroom tidied up,’ Dan thought to himself smiling like the cat that had caught the cream.
The End.
Craig Wrightson 2018