Rude Awakening

Don't you hate waking up to the sound of an alarm ringing in your ears? Yeah, me too.

Drifting slowly
Heavy
eyelids
drooping
down,
And then the pleasant song of –
Alarms?
Time to wake myself already?
But no,
The clock reads 12:00 AM.

12:00 AM!

I bolt up, awake.
WARNING! WARNING!
The siren screams.
I jump out of bed,
Grab my cell phone and purse
Shuffle down the stairwell
As thoughts whirl in my head.
My pictures,
Stuffed critters,
My clothes . . .
Oh no!
I forgot my shoes.

I trudge with all the rest
Onto the slick, rain-coated sidewalk.
Shuffling and fiddling,
We wait.
And wait.
And wait.

Whispers murmur through the crowd—
Was it a false alarm, a joke?
Would the place go up in smoke?
And all the while I stare and think—
I should have brought my sweater . . .

After what seems like an eternity,
We are ushered back inside.
I head to my room, crawl in bed,
And then—

Drifting slowly
Heavy
eyelids
drooping
down,
And then the pleasant song of . . .
The drain?


Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.


Great.

Now I’ll never get to sleep.