Thursday, March 21, 2016

"Richard! Get your butt out of bed, you're going to be late!" Richard Calhoun groaned and rolled over, pushing his blanket aside, and slid slowly out of bed and to a standing position.

"Yeah, mom," he mumbled half heartedly in the direction of the stairs leading down to the kitchen. He stumbled from his room, across the hall and into the bathroom to splash some water and his face and brush his teeth. Morning ritual officially begun he started to feel a bit more alive, more human, and within minutes was back in his room, alert, and dressing for school. 

"Richard! Are you up?"

"Yeah, I'm almost dressed," he called back and rolled his eyes.

"I know you rolled your eyes," his mom yelled back and he winced. He tugged his boots on and pulled his jean cuffs down over the tops of them. Simple black t shirt with an open button down shirt pulled on over it and he was ready to go. 

He clattered down the stairs, boots thudding loudly on the wooden surface, and careened into the kitchen like a runaway wrecking ball. His mother shrieked as he spun quickly on his heel, narrowly avoiding crashing into her and the plate of food in her hands. "Richard!" she shrieked. 

"Sorry, mom. Running late I gotta get going." He grabbed the plate from her, piled high with bacon and scrambled eggs and set it down on the kitchens center island. Eggs on top of toast, bacon on top of eggs, toast on top of bacon. Wrap it all up and he had a nice bacon and egg sandwich to go. "See you later," he said, kissed her on the cheek and was out the door before she had a chance to react. 

Richard took a big bite of his sandwich and ran across the strip of grass separating his house from the neighbors. He'd known her for years, his best friend since he was 4 years old. "SOPHIA!" he bellowed and pounded on the front door with one closed fist. "Come on! We're gonna be late for school!"