Sitting at his desk he was in a daze. The words on the monitor were blurring together. He put his hands on his face to rub his eyes and then slowly work them through his hair. It was a greasy mess. He decided he needed a shower to reinvigorate himself, and then he would finish. He saved his files, removed the wireless keyboard from his lap, and walked out of his office to be met by daylight. The rest of the house was well lit but he liked to work in the dark, even if no one was around he felt he wouldn’t be bothered that way.

The master bathroom was just down the hall. Slowly he made his way towards it with glazed eyes. Once in the bedroom he started tossing articles of clothing on the floor marking his path. This way he could just walk into the shower in stride. Though in his daze he had forgotten to let the shower warm up. He quickly tensed as the cold water rained down.

Just when the shower had started to get warm the muffled sound of the phone ringing went off downstairs. It was the afternoon so it could be a publisher, he didn’t want to miss it. He quickly threw on a blue robe and raced down the steps. He was still wet and leaving a trail on the hardwood so he was careful not to slip. But once he got to the living room carpet he quickened his pace… only for his progress to be halted by a stray G.I. Joe that had made its way away from the battlefield. He had stepped right on the soldier’s gun, forcing him to hop the final stretch to the kitchen on one foot.

It was some miracle that the phone was just getting through its third ring; he knew the fourth was the last one before it would go to the answering machine. Excitedly he picked it up eager for good news, with his bathrobe feeling more like a wet towel than a warm piece of clothing.  The eagerness was short lived.

“How could you forget to pick him up again? This is like the second time this week I’ve had to leave work and bring him here.” With no greeting her voice pierced through the phone.  She was angry this time. The first time it had happened she had only teased him.

“Sorry you know I lose track of time when I’m in my office, it’s so dark in there. What do you want me to do?” He said carefully in a tone to not dig him self in a deeper whole.

“Just come pick him up. And take him out to eat or something, he’s your son Ray not one of your books you can put off till tomorrow.” Click.

Journal 4: Prompt 2