Good morning one and all and happy Christmas eve. It always feels a little strange to me when a holiday arrives on a weekend. I know it shouldn’t, but it feels like you are just sneaking it in where it won’t make any fuss. I know, its a bit silly, but that’s sort of how it feels. And this year we are sneaking in both Christmas and New Years. The eves are both on Fridays. well sneaking in or not, Merry Christmas Eve. Shall we get started on the morning prompt? Fabulous.
I think I want to learn more about Nicolas. I have no idea what story I would use him in, but I’m going to think about it. I like the thought of him and Clyde.
Friday, December 24th: He stretched lazily and reached for the pillow.
He stretched lazily and reached for his pillow. There was no where he needed to be and no one he needed to talk to. The day was his. The fact that he had no plans for the day was irrelevant. No one else had plans for his day either.
A smile curled on his lips. It felt good. Strange, but good. He hadn’t been doing a lot of smiling lately. Things had become far too stressed for that. His mind started to drift into the problems waiting for him once his reprieve was over but he stopped them dead.
“No,” he declared to the empty room. “Not today.”
The thoughts retreated. Knowing that if he stayed in bed and lounged for much longer, they would circle back, he flipped the covers off and sat up. His pajama pants were loose around his waist and threatened to slip past his hips. He was losing weight again. He pulled his pants back up to their proper location.
Other people gained weight with stress. He could see it in the office. Those around him stressed. And then they ate. Some simply ate a little more than usal and aimed for more comforting foods. Others took the increased schedule as a reason to jettison cooking from their to do list and gave into fast food temptation. He was willing to bet that Clyde who had the desk next to him hadn’t eaten a meal that didn’t contain a large order of fries in the past six months.
When he was stressed, he couldn’t eat. The scent of food made him nauseous and he managed a few bites choked down before he had to give it up as a lost cause. For the past six months he lived off coffee and vitamin tablets. The vitamins were his attempt to at least add some of the nutrients his body needed even if he wasn’t eating much. When he caught sight of himself and Clyde in the window glass opposite their desks it looked almost as if Clyde was sucking the weight off of him and adding it to his own frame.
He shook his head and walked to the bathroom. He used the toilet and looked in the mirror as he washed his hands. He was swiftly passing thin and edging into gaunt. As a word Nicolas liked the sound of gaunt. It had a pleasantly theatrical ring to it. When applied to his own appearance he was significantly less enamored of it.
He finished washing his hands and he dried them off on the towel. Nicolas moved to the kitchen and began fixing his morning pot of coffee. He measured the water and the grounds and set it to brew. While the machine worked it’s magic, he decided to see exactly what sort of day he had been gifted. He ambled to the window as the scent of freshly brewed coffee began to snake through the air. Oddly enough the scent made his belly rumble as few things could these days. At the window he saw that the day had mixed feelings about itself. The sun was shining but it didn’t look like it wanted to last. It had a transient quality to it that let him know that the weather would remain fine until he decided that he wanted to spend his free day outside. And then the rain would bucket down.
He was certain that it would wait until he was several blocks from the house to open the skies and that he would come home dripping. He had no desire to be gaunt and wet.
Ten til Midnight 