Chapter 1
It’s half four in the A.M and my alarm clock is going mental. I groggily open my eyes and roll out of bed, well futon. It doesn’t take too long for my eyes to adjust because its still dark outside. I stand up and with a big yawn I do my early morning stretch. I curse myself for deciding to wake up this early, but I need all the time I can get today so I really had no other option than a half four start.
I stumble into the kitchen, avoiding empty beer cans and whiskey bottles, my body is still half asleep. I switch on my coffee machine, which I had the foresight to fill up with coffee and water last night, to save me a few minutes in the morning. I see my cereal bowl sitting out on the counter, covered over with cling film and already filled with cereal, all it needs is some milk. I open my fridge, to find out its given out on me during the night. Great another bill to worry about. I hope the milk is still of the smooth variety and not of the chunky kind. I pour it over my fruit and fibre, so far so good, its still white and no lumps. I pick up a spoon, load it up with cereal and shovel it into my mouth. The first taste I get is that of bad cheese. The milk has soured during the night. Reluctantly I keep spooning my breakfast into my mouth. I need all the energy I can get today, and if I want my plan to really work I will need a full tummy. By the time I finish my cereal I feel like throwing up, but my coffee is ready so I drink it down black to keep myself from spewing.
All of a sudden my lights power off, oh great. The electric company have made good on their plans to cut off my supply. I didn’t think that actually happened, I thought that they would send someone to rough me up or something, in fact I was counting on it. What type of monster would rough up a lady, let alone one as ickle as I am. Standing barely five even and weighing in at a monstrous 90 pounds most guys feel sorry for me when I turn on the water works. So I was hoping I could use my magic on who ever drew the short straw to call to my house. No such luck, in fact it was a bit sneaky, its barely a quarter to five, who turns off someone’s power this early in the day. Jerks, I will have to sort it out later though, I barely have enough in my account for rent, and my credit card is in no healthy condition, bottles of wine plus internet tend to do that to credit cards.
I struggle to keep my breakfast down and go to get ready. I figure I will stay in my pyjama’s, it will add to my plan. I hop into the shower, and it is freezing, with the electricity gone I have nothing to heat my water. I knew electric heating was going to be a double edged sword, but no use in dwelling on that right now. It’s the weekend, my problems don’t exist un till Monday roles around. I stick my hair up into a shower cap, my hair is still clean, well not greasy anyway, and with no electricity I don’t have a hair dryer. So since it’s the middle of winter, I don’t want to catch pneumonia or something. The water is like ice, so I quickly wash myself off, barely rinsing the lathers from my body scrub off. I jump out and wrap myself in my awaiting towel. I quickly dry myself off, trying to keep warm by moving around the place. I am completely awake now, cold showers tend to do that to you, so the cobwebs have been cleared from my head, and I can really focus on my plan.
Even thinking of the plan makes my eyes well up. Not because my plan is awful, well it would be if you had shame, luckily when it comes to my friends happiness, I don’t have much of a shame gland. I think back two weeks ago, to the day that I decided to sort this out. My best friends Phil and Eric had been fighting, well a lot lately, but this day was particularly bad. They have been going out since college and were madly in love, I knew they wanted to grow old together, everyone did. But on this day they ended it. I was there for the whole fight, it was harsh. I have never seen them so angry or mean before. Their relationship has been struggling for a while, and this one fight really just unsettled the both of them. I was stuck in the middle of it, I was able to keep calm during it, originally trying to calm them down, but it only fuelled the flames. I shut up and took the whole thing in, after Phil stormed off, I was their for Eric. The two of us sobbed together and Eric told me what the fight was all about, that’s when I knew that I could fix things, the problem was completely fixable. It just needed outside help.
I get dressed quickly, putting my pyjama’s back on and grabbing my long over coat. I pick up my duffel bag, which contains all the elements I will need for my mission to be a success. I write out a note explaining to Phil and Eric what’s going on. The two had been separated since the fight, but I got them to agree to meet me at their house so we could work this out. So this note was fairly important, without it I don’t think I would have the nerve to explain to them my intentions. I may not have shame when it comes to friends happiness, but I still have bashfulness. I start to tremble as I leave my apartment, and head down the flights of stairs to the outside world. It gets colder and colder the further I travel. I am completely unsure of myself. I am almost in tears by the time I reach the hunk of junk I call a car. I put what I am about to do out of my mind and head to Phil and, well I guess its just Eric’s house at the moment, Phil has moved back in with his mother.