The Dissapearance

I view a haze of colors, trying to comprehend what I'm seeing. My vision focuses and I can see my dresser, my lamp, and my laptop on the desk. My eyelids feel sore, and I close them again. What time is it? I spend lots of effort to pry my eyes open once again and look at the clock. I spot 9:49 written in red lines across the metal box of an alarm clock that glow into my tired eyes. I close my eyes again.

Wait a minute. I open my eyes again and observe the clock. It still says 9:49, and \I watch as it change to 9:50. Shit! I'm supposed to be to Walmart by ten o'clock! I scramble out of bed, my limbs still tired and I fall onto the floor. I clumsily get up and tumble out my room.

I make it to the kitchen and skid on my feet to a stop. I open up the cabinet and see a yellow cardboard box that reads "Cheerios" on it. I stare blankly into the cabinet. Making cereal takes too long. I shut the cabinet and rush towards my room again and open up my small dresser.

After I get dressed into my Walmart uniform I grab my phone and slip it into my pocket. I dash out the door and shut it and I'm about to run to my car when I realize something. My keys. I open the door, back in, look everywhere in my room and spot my keys under the messy sheets that have fallen off my bed.

I rush back outside and lock the door. As I run to my car, I take out my phone to notice that it's 9:57, May 2nd 2017. I get in the car and start the engine. I realize I forgot to check that my hair and everything's okay, so I have to use the car mirror to look at my hair. I look awful. I forgot to brush my teeth, but they look okay. My hair is falling everywhere and I desperately try to push it all back up to a manageable position. The hair is not being obedient and just falls everywhere.

I look through the windshield and see an old lady walking their dog and giving a weird look. I exchange an awkward smile with her and reverse out to the parking lot and drive down to work. My car clock shows that it's 9:59. I'm going to be late. Luckily this usually never happens; the last time I was late was like 8 months ago.

I work a minimum wage job in a small town and I'm not really getting anywhere, to be honest. I feel like the whole world is staring down on me, judging me for not being up there like them. I have no idea if it's true or my parents got me paranoid. They left me here a few months after I turned 18, and act like I'm a mistake they need to hide and forget about. I keep telling myself that I will get somewhere eventually, but I'm slowly feeling like it's a lie. Will I ever escape this hole? There's no handlebars to climb out, and I have no idea how to make them.

I make it to work and clock in. Nobody even notices. It's 10:03 now. Not too late. I'm working as a cashier today, so I have to deal with all the stupid people. One old man was very mad with me since he didn't like the price of the video game he's buying for his grandson. I tried to explain that I'm just an employee, so then he tries to convince me to discount the $60 product to $10.

"Look, sir, we've got rules here. I can't discount this for you."

"The hell you can! See, this is why millenials are ruining our economy." Of course he had to turn this into a thing about millenials, I mean of course everything wrong with the world is that generation's fault.

"Sir, are you going to buy the game or not?" I ask in the calmest way possible. He exhales a grunt and curses under his breath as he buys the game.

Most of work was normal, save for a few... difficult customers. I'm off by 6:00 and I take a picture of the schedule before I leave. Tomorrow I have the day off. Thank god. I'm not planning to do anything productive. Netflix, video games, and sleeping for the next 24 hours.

I get in the car and make my way home, thinking of my parents. They left me here as soon as I reached 18 years old, calling me a disgrace and that I'm useless. After that I got left with a job at Walmart and a... less than perfect lifestyle. But whatever. I'll show them, I mean everybody has to start somewhere, right? ...Right?