Time stands still here in this room. I stare off into the dark parking lot through the glass wall in the lobby.
It’s dead silent outside and not a single car has passed by in the last thirty minutes.
I stretch and wait behind my desk for people to check in.
I’m the only person working on this quiet night. I check the clock periodically.
I wonder how much longer I’ll have to listen to the annoying hum of the computer under the desk.
The silent atmosphere is good for brainstorming,
I pace back and forth in the lobby thinking of things to do when I get off work.
After ten minutes of walking in circles, I snap.
I can’t stand the silence in the room and I haven’t talked to anybody in the last five hours.
I’m itching for some human contact.
I go search the hallways for ghosts and homeless people to brighten up my night.
I search the hallways and find nothing. I open empty rooms to look for intruders. Empty.
I give up and go back to my desk. I doodle faces on the cups that the guests use for their morning coffee.
Within five minutes I am having conversations with my new styrofoam buddies.
I try to introduce them to my other friends in video messages which I send using my phone.
I receive a reply, “I’m sleeping. Bug me in the morning.”
The heater is making me feel stuffy.
I writhe in my chair. My tie is choking me and my clothes are tightening up against my body.
I’m uncomfortable and beginning to sweat so I go outside for some fresh air.
Off in the distance I can see other hotels decorated to look fancy.
The red and green Christmas lights hanging alongside the walls fit the incoming holiday.
The streets are empty and nobody can be seen on the sidewalks. It’s just like every other night.
I walk back into the lobby and flip open my laptop.
The only people available to chat are the one’s on the other side of the world where the sun is shining.
I talk for a while, check my e-mail, and flip through the same websites over and over again.
I am bored and lonely. This small glowing window is not a good substitute for human contact.
Later, the sun illuminates my surroundings and I pack up to go home. I wave farewell to my co-worker as I leave the building.
People enter the lobby. They are waking up and starting their day as I am ending mine.
I enjoy the company of cars during the morning rush hour and the people on the streets holding their freshly brewed coffee.
I ride my bike home soaking in a half hour of daylight. I open the door to my house and knock myself out on the couch.
I spend a few hours unwinding. Nobody is home, they joined the morning folk.
I lay in bed batting away the sunlight with my pillow as I begin to fall asleep.
I wake up and observe the things around my room. I check to see what objects have been moved, touched, and displaced.
I rub the sleepiness from my eyes and scout the Internet for new content that people have created while I was gone.
My father and my brother are sleeping, who knows what they’ve accomplished in the last 10 hours.
I put on my shoes and head back to work.
I enter the room and wave goodnight to my coworker as I take their place on the chair.
I sit and stare off into the dark parking lot outside.
Time has been distorted in my mind. Every single night I stare out in that same direction.
Nothing has changed, everything in the lobby looks the same.
The night is inactive and it’s only when I go to bed that the world starts moving again.
The world has left me behind.
Weeks and weeks go by and I’m still stuck in cue.
Frozen in time the moment my manager said “You’re hired.”
—————-
Yeeeuup. That was my summer. 2007.
Loading ...
4 people give this post 4.75 out of 5 awesome turtles!
9 people give this post 4.11 out of 5 awesome turtles!
