Staying out late at the carnival was not his best plan, but Riley had made many mistakes in his years at pharmacy school. Now that he had graduated, he had no standing rule that required him to act responsibly. No, instead, after staying out past 10:00 PM the night before, he stared at the flashing 8:00 AM and attempted to block out the blaring siren of his bedside alarm.
He first attempted to regain peaceful sleep by pulling a pillow tightly over his head to try to smother the racket, but the noise continued. The alarm clock had one task during the day, and it only buzzed louder as Riley tried to ignore it. The cacophony ended when Riley tossed the offending clock across the room.
“Why did I ever buy that god-awful thing? Damn.” He said in a clear voice, “Hey Max! What’s on the calendar
