Sins of the past

I slammed down my half finished manuscript.I needed about four thousand words before it could be the book that my manager,well,me too had imagined when it was starting off.Bella,my manager for two years had now had given up on trying all her ‘magical tricks which were apparently supposed to ease my writers block which has been around for a month now and counting.This is my longest writer’s block in my five years of being an author. We have been to several workshops,I have attended a writers retreat that was supposed to connect me to my surroundings and make me more productive.Truth be told,the description matches the real place but apparently that was also not enough to motivate and wake my seemingly dead brain up.It actually served to make all those voices in my head louder than they had been before.I have travelled to a town that was miles away from home and honestly,I cannot even remember the name.Bella booked me a bus ticket,which was meant to give me enough time to observe new surroundings and in the process give me new and fresh ideas for my book.As you can already tell,I tried all the tricks in her book but I am still stuck at this same page. As I slam my laptop shut,I manage to offhand my coffee cup which flies across my table,in the process spilling coffee which viscosity allows to reach my miserable manuscript.See? Even the universe is conspiring against me and my book,Paulo Coelho should revisit his quote about the universe aligning to drop my so much needed desires right on my freaking lap. I quickly grab my laptop saving it from the devil sent drink that has been keeping me awake ,too much really,that I haven’t slept for twenty four hours straight.In the process,my chair topples backwards and since I didn’t turn back to check the chair,I sit or rather attempt to and I go crashing down,slamming my back on the chairs legs.In a reflex,I raise my hand that is holding my laptop over my head in an attempt to save the damn thing once more which leaves the rest of my body unprotected.I shut my eyes waiting for the impact which takes forever that I think I might have imagined it.I hit my head on the front part of the chair which then slides to the far side of the wall while my body goes the rest of the way to the floor,my arm still raised to protect the laptop in my hand. The impact on my head makes me see the proverbial stars.For a moment I am actually travelling in that bus to that town with no name for the retreat.The lady next to me is droning on and on about her son whom she seems to adore but who sounds like such a manipulative rascal to me.Remind me to never ask a parent about their children.They can’t seem to get enough of the little urchins.I open my eyes and realise that I am still on the floor with my arm wrapped protectively around my laptop.I use my table which is still messy from all the coffee soaking my things as my support and manage to stand then lean back on it.I pick the cup,the genesis of all this cacophony of disasters and throw it hard against the chair lying adjacent to my table.It misses and instead hits the wall above it and smashes into a million pieces which I will have to clean later. I need to salvage the part of my manuscript that may have escaped the coffee tirade.Bella keeps saying that I should start doing my work in soft copies.She actually bought me the laptop that I almost sacrificed my life for,for that purpose.I have managed to get half of my manuscript on it so far which means should I not save the hard-copy,I will have an additional two thousand words to do.This day already feels like a disaster and it’s not even 10 o’clock. A knock on the door brings me back to my present environment.Macey my assistant/secretary/cleaner/friend if you get my drift,opens my door just enough to put her head through.She scans the mess that is now my office and opens the door fully to come inside. “I might have confused this for a circus had I not looked at the name on your door before coming in! What happened in here?” She speaks fondly while picking the chair on the floor. “Don’t even ask about it.There seems to be a conspiracy between all forces on earth to make my life hell.” “Come on,you don’t really believe that.I mean,I know you have been struggling lately but everything will be okay.”She goes about righting everything that was wrong about the office. “You know you are one of the few people I like around but what are you doing here today? I thought it was your day off.”I love this woman to death but she works too hard.Every once in a while,I give her a compulsory day off to take a break from all the worrying she does for me and frankly,half the world too. “I was passing by to pick somethings I had left in my desk before I heard all the noise inside here and decided to check on you.”She answers while glaring at me playfully. She turns to look at me and she quickly rushes to me,”Oh my God! Your head is bleeding,we should get you to a doctor and get that checked,it looks pretty bad.Let me grab my..” I don’t even let her finish that statement.She is like that mother who coddles her children and I don’t want to be like that little rascal and take her day off just because I was clumsy enough to knock down my coffee cup.However,I know she won’t leave until she makes sure I am okay. “Look Macey,It’s nothing just a little scratch from the broken cup.I promise that I am okay.I just need to be careful with my coffee next time.” “Are you sure?It might be a concussion.” She pulls me down to sit on the chair while she puts her hand on my head as if that might tell her the extent of my injuries.She runs to my bathroom and comes with a first aid kit.I don’t even bother stopping her because the more I fight her,the more persistent she becomes and she can be a pain in my ass,in a good way but still pain. After five minutes of a lot of wincing from me and several cotton swabs from her,she finally stands back looking satisfied like she finally learnt her true vocation.I shoo her out the door to enjoy the rest while I get back to my messy manuscript. A headache seems to materialise from nowhere and hits me like a torpedo.I sit on my devil possessed chair and take some painkillers from the first aid kit still on the table.Why don’t people understand the concept of returning things where they found them? Such negligence!