OUT OF CONTEXT

E. V.

*BEEP*

*BEEP*

*BEEP*

*click*

My paw reached out from under my blanket, pushing down on the top of my abused alarm clock, the soft click of the button finally relieving my ears from the rape of the stupid alarms blare.

I sat up, rubbing my eyes softly. It hurt, but I was used to it. My daily life. Wake up, and pain.

I slipped my lanky legs out from under my sheets, touching the cold hardwood floor of my bedroom with my feet. I shivered at the touch, a sharp chill running up through my body as I stood up. I took a shaky breath. It's always cold at five.

I walked across my room, grabbing a blank red hoodie with my initials stitched onto the sleeves; E.V.

I slipped my arm through the sleeve, not bothering to take off the white t-shirt I had worn to sleep in. The simple logo on the middle torso of a paw and assorted wrinkles being the only defining features of the shirt hidden under my hoodie as I zipped it up. Afterwards, I slipped on some black slacks and sneakers and made my way to my door.

I walked out of my room, hearing my little brother Lance playing in his room as I stepped into the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind me.

I sighed, turning to face the large mirror hung on the wall. The rim of the mirror flicked on, the screen embedded into the reflective surface lighting up, stating my name in a methodic tone.

"Hello, Edmund."

"Hello, Mirror." I mumbled to myself, staging down the reflection that stared back at me.

White fur, sunken, dark eyes, messy brown hair. Miserable appearance for me. The usual.

"What would you like today, Edmund?"

"I've already told you, I want to go by Ed."

"My apologies, Edmund. It is not in my programming."

"I swear- ugh. Forget it." I press a few times on the screen, and a small drawer embedded into the wall swings open, allowing me to grab my brush and attempt to tame my hair.

"Would you like your script, Edmund?"

"In a second. Just go ahead and print it."

"Understood, Edmund."

My ears flatten, a small grumble escaping my throat as I set the brush back down onto the drawer's bottom, the drawer snapping back into place with an electronic locking sound as it settled. On the other side of the mirror, a black box started making noises, a slip of paper slowly making its way out the bottom of the box. After a few seconds, with a small metallic snapping, the paper was cut. It fell, folding over itself as it settled into a Catch bolted into the wall.

I reached down into the Catch, grabbing the paper and reading it over. Everything from what I'm supposed to eat to who I'm supposed to date was on the paper in a long list, divided by Time Zones.

Right now, it was Time Zone 5, early morning. Everyone was waking up and getting ready right now. Nothing was typed out in that box.

I didn't let myself look further down, as I already could assume what was in store for me today.

Pain.