Looking up into the pale blue sky, she thought she saw her saviour.
Her guiding light, something she had been wishing and searching for years to find.
But like all the other times it was a haze in the distance, a figment of imagination.
She sighed as she looked forward, bringing her eyes down to the earth she wanted to escape.
She finished eating her apple and looked at her watch. The hands never seemed to move as
quickly as they do when they are out of the office. Time had a new found speed out here away
from the confines of work. She knew today like all other days would see her at home before she
knew it, the weekend fast approaching and even faster would it be Monday morning yet again.
She tried not to get drawn into wishing for time to stand still, a fantasy that she used to
have as a child. Why would she want time to stop since she really didn't have anything to
stop it for? She had no family, no children, no husband and a cat that didn't really appreciate
her presence. But she wasn't miserable.
Well ok she was miserable, but what could she do about it? Killing herself was messy and she
had no time to actually go out and do something. She was just sick of it all. A holiday was
so trite, quitting seemed a bit extreme and shooting her boss, well lets just say he wasn't
worth it. She sat on the park bench for just a few minutes longer. She knew she was late
getting back from lunch but she didn't care, she wanted to soak up the sun, praying that it
might revive her spirit. She knew she looked silly with her rounded chin pointed to the sky
and her blue eyes closed, arms outstretched as she breathed in heavily the perfumes of spring.
How did she get here? She thought desperately with an audible sigh as she let her arms slap
onto her legs. She was so bright in school. Not all together popular by any stretch of the
imagination, but she had a few friends. All of which did exactly what they said they would.
Married, careers, lovers, travelling and adventures. She stayed home, studied and became
pathetic all of a sudden. How come she didn't see this coming?
She was a pretty girl with a common face. There was nothing extraordinary about her,
so she thought. She had been flat chested and thin at the age of 13, until her passionate
love affair with chocolate began. She was now curvaceous with hips and breasts to spare.
But no one paid her much heed, especially in this town full of prepubescent trash with legs
up to their necks and plenty of spare room in the head.
Was she bitter? Hell Yeah! She had been living this life for so long she thought going to a
different supermarket was exciting.
She looked at her watch again, said a few choice blasphemes and headed very quickly
back to work. Work, who thought this bright concept up? She thought. Yep, work your butt
off for five days and then have two days off to recuperate before doing it all again.
Oh yeah it was God. That being out there in the cosmos that people talk to when they need
something. He only worked the 6 days. He created earth and that's it! Then he had the
7th day off as a sickie and has never been back. He is a real boss thought, gets everyone
else to do his work for him, poor Moses.
No she doesn't hate God and religion. She is not an atheist who will suddenly recant on her
deathbed just in case there is a small chance she may go to Hell, even though she doesn't
believe in Heaven. She doesn't really think much of Heaven since she has to go to Hell
everyday.
Hell, more commonly known as work, employment, a job, means of getting very little money to
support that really disgusting habit of eating and living. No one ever said it was going
to be easy, her mother used to say. Stay a child for as long as you can lectured her father.
She sighs as she thinks what a waste knowledge is on the old and what a waste youth is on the
young. There God goes again, screwing up everything!
She stands outside her place of employment. Cold gloomy stone encases the building and grisly
looking figures of lions look down their noses at her from above. She pictures the cold and
gloomy people that live inside this building, her "colleagues". She had never been close with
anyone at work. She just went about her business and left them to theirs. She suddenly gets
a chill as clouds move directly over the building, blocking the sun. She walks hastily up the
grey steps, carefully manoeuvres around the ancient security guard snoozing at his post, who has
been here since time began and makes her way towards the elevator.
Everything is the same in this building she suddenly realises. Each floor is a replica of the
previous, only with different people, but even they begin to melt into the background and become
one.
Why is she doing this? Why is she here when the thought of being here makes her skin crawl?
Because she is part of the status quo. That section of society that have been taught for
centuries to put up and shut up. She needs to get out, be free, get dirty, she absentmindly
thinks as she walks past the desks that are exactly that same as the ones before to her little
cubicle. Her little world. Tiny captions, pictures of places she will never visit and sticky
notes all over the computer show who it is that sits here. But take all that away and all you
have is a procrastinating computer, an antiquated desk and a lopsided chair that keeps deciding
to try and buck her off by changing the hydraulics on a whim. Ergonomics is the way to a better
working environment someone once wrote. Ergonomics, what's that? She quips. She tries to hide
the smile that has sprung to her lips, but its to late, the monster has seen her. The monster
called - The Boss! Picture this, 5 foot 2 inches, stubby, hairy, fat, lardball combover king
with a habit of picking his nose and you would be in ecstasy compared to Mr Bossman.
He makes the hunchback of Notre Dame look like Adonis.
She shudders as he comes closer, she knows he is going to punish her for being late. Even
though she towers over him, he always makes her feel small. She feels like a rat caught in
a maze, she can't find the holy grail of cheese, only problem is she is not the rat in this
scenario. "Go jump in a lake you old blowhole, you can take your job and shove it" she screams
at him, pity its only in her head she has the courage to say that. She takes the now large
amount of work from him with a smile and a "Thank you sir". She almost feels she should
curtsying. She turns into her cubicle and makes repulsive faces to the wall. She looks
at her watch again, 3 hours to go, she collapses into her lopsided chair with a humongous
sigh. It feels like she has been here for eternity and she has only been back 10 minutes,
at least you can always count on time standing still at the worst possible moment. She looks
around, makes sure Mr Bossman isn't around and proceeds to sob for a good 10 minutes without
making a sound. Oh you can't go on like this, pick yourself up and get on with it. She wipes
away the last tear and starts the mountain of paperwork.
She stares at the clock. Countdown Five, Four, Three, Two, One, 5 o'clock!! If she could
dance she would have danced around the office. Instead she grabs all her belongings and bolts
for the door. On the way out she quickly stamps her time card and disappears before anyone
notices she is gone, not that anyone noticed she was there. The elevator cannot move fast
enough, she has never been claustrophobic, but right now she would chew the ear off the person
next to her if it meant escaping Hell that little bit quicker.
Past the now snoring security guard she flies down the steps, looks up pokes her tongue
out at the lions above and spins around in the sun. But she stops dead when she realises
that its only Monday and she will have to do this all again tomorrow. There is a very
annoying sound coming from somewhere, she looks around confused wanting to know where the
piercing sound is coming from.
She wakes with a start, sits bolt upright in bed and thinks about her dream.
She shudders thinking how horrible that would be and how she really can't wait
to get back to her job as a teacher, she loves her kids at school, not as much
as she loves her own 2 little girls, but its love all the same. She must ring them
today before they drive their grandparents crazy she thinks as she reaches over and
gently rouses her husband awake giving him a kiss on the cheek and a hurry up honey we are
going to miss the day. She bounces out of bed, gets on her bathing suit and gets ready
to go to the pool. She looks out the window to see the bright sunshine beaming onto
everything. She sees their group of friends by the pool and waves, gesturing that
they will be down soon. Hey when you are on holidays what's the point of thinking about
work?!
