Fiction Friday Challenge ~ Bad Morning

Remember how earlier, I promised I’d post my Fiction Friday Challenge contribution? Here it is. It’s a story from the perspective of a cranky guy having a bad morning.

Bad Morning

Joy. My upstairs neighbors are smoking dope on the stairs again. I wish they’d just move out. It’s five am, and I can’t even enjoy a decent run. At least, not if I want my lungs to remain unscathed by foreign materials. It seems like it’s getting worse every day – the dope fiends. Pretty soon they’ll be covering our lungs in the mind-altering dust as we walk down the street.

I need to get ready for work, but I can’t because I haven’t gone for my run yet. I may have to forgo the run and just—never mind, I’m going back to bed.

I wake up an hour and a half later, now running late, my routine off because of the potheads on my stairs. They’re blasting their television. I guess pot makes you deaf too. I pull on my pants, grab my socks, and wander to my kitchen. Great, now they’re sniffling outside my door. I wonder if they snort coke as well. No, they can’t possibly do coke. That’s a rich person’s drug – maybe? I don’t know. I’ve never really done drugs.

I open the drawer where I keep my coffee. The bag’s empty. I grunt. Now I have to stop at Has Beans on my way to the office. That’s about right. I can’t deal with my boss without caffeine. I guess I have done drugs. I seem to have a java addiction.

I finally make it out the door.

I slip my feet into my shoes. I wrap the end of the lace around the loop. That’s so I don’t trip on my way to work. I grab my briefcase and my suit jacket. I’m finally out the door. Fifteen blocks to Has Beans and another five to work. I convince myself I can make it.

You’ve got to be kidding me. There’s a line in the coffee shop at 7:30 in the morning. Who the heck in Chico is up at this time? A bunch of giggling freshmen stand in front of me. I forgot the university was back in session. As I wait, “Oo ee oo ah ah ting tang walla walla bing bang” assaults my ears.

Clearly, someone has had too much espresso this morning – and I not enough.

Fiction Friday Challenge Rules

• Every month, I’ll post a list of that month’s Fiction Friday challenges.
• Write something based on the prompt or theme for at least five minutes. You can keep writing if you want!
• Don’t edit! These are exercises. Nobody will judge you on perfection.
• Post what you wrote to your blog on Friday.
• Share the link to your post on social networks with the hashtag #FictionFriday.
• Share your post in the comments section of the Fiction Friday Challenge post for that week.
• Share other people’s posts on social networks with the hashtag #WREFictionFriday.
• Be constructive when commenting on other people’s posts. We’re just trying to get better at writing, not compete with famous authors!

I hope you’ll join me and have fun writing!

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