The alarm sounded loud and clear, clanging and vibrating as it danced its way across the nightstand. A groan came from beneath the heavy blankets as a hand reached out groping blindly for the complaining clock until finally silence fell once again over the dimly lit room.
Mother pulled herself to a seated position rubbing her eyes and blinking at the weak sunshine creeping through the crack in the curtains. “That time already” she thought,”my how time flies.” Carefully, she planted her feet firmly on the carpeted floor, stepped in to her fluffy slippers and shuffled slowly in to the bathroom.
With cool water splashed across her face she gradually began to feel more awake. Catching sight of herself in the mirror as she leaned over the sink, she studied carefully her sallow skin and drooping eyelids. With a frown she wondered just how was it that sleep, that was supposed to be restful, often left you looking like a shar pei dog that just got in from a rough night on the town! Perhaps she had just slept too long. The pink curlers placed before she went to bed were still in place and would later curl her hair beautifully; at least it would not be a bad hair day.
The kitchen was warm and cozy as Mother stepped to the sink. As water flowed in to the coffee pot the back door flew open and in bounced Jack grinning from ear to ear. “Good grief!” Mother exclaimed “are you just getting home now?” Jack winked mischievously at Mother as he took off his coat and hung it on the hook. “Well, I decided to have one more night out, catch a few people of guard.” Mother shook her head “well I’m glad you find it funny.”
“Old man went to bed a while ago” continued Jack, “and I got bored with no one to hang out with.” “You’d best get going” said Mother with a roll of her eyes, “I have work to do and I don’t need you under my feet.” Jack moved past her with a peck on her cheek and headed to the stairs, “yeah, I guess I am tired now, see you later.”
With the kitchen to herself once again, Mother poured herself a cup of coffee and began to contemplate the tasks ahead of her. Looking through the early reports on her desk, Mother noted that the projects planned last fall were beginning to show their colors. The daffodils were heralding in the blue skies with yellow trumpets sounding the charge accompanied by tiny snow drops that hung delicately with their bells swinging gently in the light breeze.
Switching on her lap top computer, Mother checked her online calendar noting the reminders for the day. It was time to turn up the heat a little and opening the toolbar she moved the slide bar up a couple of notches. Slowly the temperature rose and the sepia landscape began to develop with patches of color dusting the hillsides. Delicately the tiny leaves uncurled and blossoms started to open like popcorn in slow motion.
Hitting the volume button the returning birds began to sing a little louder and the thawing brooks began to babble once again as Mother sat back in her chair and viewed her work with an approving eye. “I think this might just be my best work yet” she thought with satisfaction.
Leaning forward she reached out for her writing tablet to make a few notes on her days work and crash, her cup of coffee spilled forward over her desk and she looked with horror as the brown puddle crept slowly around her keyboard. With a mad dash to the kitchen Mother grabbed a roll of paper towels and hurried back to her desk…too late, the coffee had surrounded the base and with a sizzle and a pop the screen flickered twice and then went blank.
Outside the world grew dark, high winds began to blow across the countryside bending the flowers to the ground as the rains came pouring down. Flash! Lightening struck the budding trees and the thunder rolled around the hillside deafening the world.
Jack came running down the stairs. Mother, what are you doing, that is so cool! With her curlers now hanging in disarray around her head Mother yelled, “oh no, what a disaster!”
“Think, think, think” Mother told herself, “there has to be a solution…bloody computers!” Hurrying to the closet she pulled out her old planning book and opened to the day one of spring. Grabbing her ball point pen she began to write. With each stroke of her pen the world outside began to calm. Looking out her window Mother could see the damage left behind from the storm.
After several hours of writing, drawing and coloring the world slowly returned to spring. By evening Mother fell exhausted in to her armchair with a glass of wine in her hand. “That’s what I get for trying to hurry it all along” she thought to herself, “I must make that a lesson learned, sometimes the old ways were there for a reason”. With a click of the remote the high definition television mounted on the wall sprung to life, “ah,” she thought, “I think I will just check out the shopping channel, I believe they have a new gadget out that may save me a little time tomorrow”
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