Take 1
One of those days when you wonder why you should get out of bed in the morning. She opens her eyes, the light is pouring in the window, but it's not a bright day. Looks like it's going to rain, how convenient! She stares at the window, thinking about nothing in particular. All she knows is that she doesn't want to get out of bed.
As she rolls in bed, she imagines her day; she'll get up, take a fast shower and grab a cup of coffee. She'll go through the traffic and the heat and the smog. She'll get to work only to drink her second cup of coffee of the day. She'll sit in front of a screen pressing buttons on her keyboard all day for 8 hours, maybe more. Today, it feels like it's going to be more. Her mother will call her to complain about the prices and her brother. She'll say all the uh-huh's and oh-hoh's, she'll say yes lots of times, and I will lots of times, and the phone calls will pass.
She'll get home, eat leftovers, sit in front of her turned on TV but won't really watch it. She'll try to read but her mind will wander. After browsing through her phone records, there's really no one to call. Friends are busy with their lives, and the rest will just complain about this and that. No phone calls today. She'll just sit there until 12 am, because going to bed any earlier would be just too sad. Finally, bedtime!
She sits up, looks straight ahead and says out loud, "happy birthday to me!"
Take 2
She opened her eyes and instinctively looked at her alarm clock on the bedside table, waiting for a second till her vision cleared and finally saw that it's 6:30 am. She wasn't necessarily fond of waking up early but that's life, you win some you lose some. No light is coming through the window even though she should be seeing the sun shine over the neighborhood right about then, gloomy day, maybe it'd rain. She smiled at the thought, "good omen" she told herself. It's a day that she decided to smile on in all cases, and smile she shall, rain or no rain. She put on the suit she hates so dreadfully. Stupid meeting making her wear the most uncomfortable outfit in the world, with high heels too! She put on black mascara and dark red lipstick, a statement but not a very strong one; she might as well go the whole nine yards. As she went to fix breakfast, her mom kept shouting at her at how messed up her room was, yes even at 28 her mom still tells her to clean her room. She kissed her on the cheek and called her by her pet name with the sunniest smile she could manage. When her mom smiled back she ran for the door and left. The traffic was already piling and the radio was boring, but that's what they made mp3 players for. Today, we rock and roll, she thought and the stones screamed out of her car in the middle of traffic, and she was screaming right along with them! The meeting was a total disaster; the customer was unyielding and her manager was probably looking for ways to pin the blame on her. She stood by the window staring at the street and the cars with a snickers bar. She closed her eyes and thought of how today was special, and today she wasn't letting anything ruin it, faked a smile and then remembered one of those funny things her friend B always says with wide eyed conviction and no hesitation; blah mode of course! She went back to work with a genuine smile. The traffic back was horrible, her planned dinner was cancelled and her feet were killing her, but she got home in the end. She ordered Chinese as planned with a slight detour of eating it at home instead of at a stuffy restaurant. It was already 9 pm, the day was almost over, but it will go out with a bang. The Stones were playing again in her room and dancing to them was the most fun she could ever have, especially that no one was watching, and in a moment of complete satisfaction she took a bite out of her Nutella cupcake; her treat to herself and to hell with the calories, you only live once. At 12 she turned off the music, looked at her phone, saw that the people that mattered still do matter, and smiled, "happy birthday to me"
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