Josh Lindsey
English-111-72A
Kim Schlene
09/20/2011
My
Undying Thirst
It
was a dry, hot summer day; I could barely feel the icy air flow protruding from
the air conditioning unit. The atmosphere was so humid and sticky that I didn't
even feel like standing up. I could faintly hear the sound of cars driving by
over the loud puttering of the air conditioner. I was sitting there on the
stiff couch; I could feel one of the wooden boards that was holding the couch
together pressing hard against my back. As the rough textured fabric of the
sofa brushed up against my arms, I stopped thinking and realized that I was
pretty miserable. I kept wondering every other minute if the air conditioner was
even running correctly.
It had to be at least ninety plus degrees in
my scorching hot apartment. I had thought previously about escaping this place
that was starting to take on the characteristics of the way hell itself is
described. But, I was in no mood to move. It's like the heat was keeping me
pressed down like an iron pressing down a piece of cloth. For a minute I
thought I might actually be melting, but my common sense surfaced and I quickly
dismissed the ridiculous idea.
Something
about my current situation just had to change. At the time I had no idea what I
could possibly do to ease the extreme discomfort that I was suffering through.
Then, it clicked; like a light bulb above a character's head in a cartoon. As I
tried to swallow, I noticed my mouth felt like the Sahara Desert: very dry.
Then it came to me faster than lightning striking the earth, I need a drink!
The solution I had come up with was so simple, yet it sounded so perfect. I
didn't understand why I hadn't thought of it earlier. The heat was probably
getting to my head and making me delirious or something like that. My mind set
had finally changed; I was unmotivated to move no more! I had a new goal in
life and I had a problem that needed to be solved.
Now
that I had a goal, I had to think of a way to achieve it. I glanced over to the
cluttered wooden coffee table right in front of me, my mind started swirling
with adamant thoughts, such as: “Where can I find something to quench my
undying thirst?,” “What sounds good right now?,” and “do I want to take a few
big gulps of ice cold water?, or crack open a refreshing beer?.” After sitting
and trying to organize my thoughts for a few more minutes, I still couldn't
make up my mind about what I was going to do. After many minutes of sitting there
I finally decided to get up and go take a look in the fridge to see what
different beverages I had at my disposal. Like they always say, “the first step
is the hardest”. However, before I could take the first step I would have to
manage to stand up.
I braced myself tightly and sat up straight
from my previous slouched position. It was really hard to move in this intense
heat that was smothering my supply of oxygen, but I still managed to sit up. I
felt like a piece of Velcro being peeled from its backing. Shortly after, I
stiffly planted my right foot on the hard wood floor. As I did this my bones
started quivering from the fact that they hadn’t been used to moving for a few
hours. My right knee started shaking, so I placed my right hand strategically
on it to stop the intense shaking of my leg. Now it was time for the next step.
Almost identical to the situation previously mentioned, I did the same with my
left leg. This one didn't shake as much. Therefore, I was ready for what was
about to be the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life: standing up. I
proceeded to try to stand, but the first time was kind of a catastrophe. I
stood, my legs gave out, I fell backwards onto the black hole of a couch that I
have, and hit my knee on the grainy wood table in front of me. A very sharp
pain shot through my knee and then through my upper thigh. Now I was back to
step one. But, this time I was determined. I quickly placed both feet back on
the ground strong and firmly, and stood straight up. I was extremely proud of
myself at first, but after standing for a few seconds, the heat started getting
to me again. It hit me like a swift punch to the face; I instantly wanted to go
back to my save haven that most call a couch, but my stubborn brain decided
that I was doing otherwise. I took the first horrific step, then the second; I
glanced out of the corner of my eye and saw nothing but a black television
screen glaring at me. I took a double take and saw the couch's reflection in
the screen. It was so tempting but I had to refuse! There was no way I was
going back after getting as far as I already was. Shortly after getting
distracted, my mind was set back on the objective that I had originally
briefed.
Now
it's time to continue taking the necessary steps required to get to my final
solution. I started to get back to walking into the kitchen which seemed
millions of miles away, when in actuality it was only a few feet away from
where I was sitting before. As I was walking, I was trying to fight through the
heat. It closely resembled embarking on a journey through a bowl of red Jell-O.
By the time I managed to make it into the kitchen I was sweating profusely, my
joints were weak and I was in fairly bad shape. I looked over and saw a pile of
dishes that need to be cleaned stacked neatly in the sink, and I thought about
switching my initial mission to washing those instead. Then, like an annoying
conscience, a thought ran through my head that said, “Are you crazy?? You are
very, very thirsty. You need to satisfy your dehydrated body before doing
anything.”
I
eagerly pushed that foolish idea aside and turned to the refrigerator. It
looked like a big, white, Holy Grail when I first spotted it. I was finally
here, I was finally at the peak of the mountain, I was finally at the finish
line of the race, I was so close. I slowly lifted my shaking arm and weakly
gripped the handle of the valiant box of various foods and beverages whose job
is to keep me nourished and hydrated. Now it was time for it to do its job, I
didn't know if there was ever a human being that walked this earth that was as
thirsty, hot, and dehydrated as I was at that particular moment in time. I
pulled weakly on the handle, but I obviously didn't pull hard enough and the
door didn't open. I then put my hand back on the handle, and just to make sure
that it would open this time I also placed my free hand on the handle. This
time I put all of the little strength I had into this pull and the fridge door
swung open. I was then blinded by the light coming from inside; it was like
opening a chest full of gold.
My
eyes instantly fell upon a bottle of water sitting on the bottom of shelf. I
eagerly reached for it and pulled it out. It looked so beautiful in my hand. It
was so cold my hand felt like it was starting to become frozen solid. There
were beads of water dripping off the side of the delightful looking bottle. I
then started to twist the cap off of the bottle. Due to the weakened state I
was in, it took me a few tries to actually get the cap off. Finally, I got the
cap off and lifted the bottle of icy water to my mouth to take a drink. It was
the best tasting thing I’ve ever had. Just imagine, a desert wasteland getting
drenched in a rain storm and then turning into a luscious rainforest, that's
how my mouth was. After polishing off the full bottle, I tossed it into the
wastebasket that was close by and I was finally refreshed. I felt like a new
person, everything in life went from being miserable to actually seeming pretty
perfect. I had a clear head and I was ready to continue my day. Then shortly
after, I realized I had another predicament at hand, I had to make it back to
the couch...
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