The cool drink bubbled on my tongue and my eyes watered as it left a far from natural aftertaste. I set the now empty can down with a hollow clank. Over the next few moments my leg began to bounce and I began to gnaw on the insides of my mouth. Despite all the distractions, my eyes stayed glued to the bright light of my computer screen. The faint sounds of the keyboard and the occasional click of my mouse echoed through the silent dark room I inhabited yet I still didn’t hear. My mind was on one thing and one thing alone; The abundant colorful pixels that came together to become my own personal paradise.

Hours passed. I stayed in the same hunched over position. I didn’t notice how stiff my neck was, how my back longed to be stretched and popped,  the cramping in my wrists, the dryness of my eyes.  A car passed outside. The noise returned me to reality. I shifted, only to be met with a plethora of pains throughout my whole body. The pins and needles in my toes became evident. I sighed and raised my arms to yawn. I glanced at the corner of my screen. Late is all I thought as I exited the many windows I had forgotten and saved my game. I slowly stood and made my way to my room where I laid down and stared up into the darkness.

My mind became busy. Stress, responsibilities, every sorrow I knew, the crippling self deprecation that plagued my being. I don’t know how long I laid there, begging for sleep to take away the egregious things that flowed through my one place of solitude. Slowly tears welled up and spilled over onto my cold cheeks, leaving behind trails and memories. I continued to stare at the nothing until my mind became just as exhausted as I was. As the room got lighter and lighter with the sun, my vision became darker and darker until my eyes closed. At that precise moment in time my alarm went off. I sighed and got up. After a grueling day of work I came home and did it all again and again and again. Finally the end of the week came. Joy seeped through my muted existence. I came home expecting to stay up and have fun, but instead the moment I sat down, my vision faded and everything went black.