The Anatomy of a Late Night

Light from the sodium streetlamps filter in as I part the ash-coloured venetian blinds. Ever so often a white Indica cab speeds past on the otherwise deserted road. It all seems clear and fresh outside and the streetlights reflect and shimmer as though there has been rain.

An office boy wanders about mechanically switching the lights off. He pauses as he walks by my desk and falters near the light switch. His finger hovers uncertainly and he finally thinks better of it. The single light now shines bravely on the dark carpeted floor.

My chair creaks and seems a little too flexible to be good for the spine. The creaking seems unnaturally loud on this solitary night.
Servers churn and process at speed as America reaches late afternoon and occasionally the CPU fan seems to kick in and spin a little louder. Several chairs nearby sit, still pristine in their wrapping paper. It is uncommon, I think to myself, to have companies where the infrastructure grows a little faster than the workforce.

The airconditioner seems colder with noone around. A loose strand of clear plastic flaps against part of the vent distractedly. Its just me in here and the aircons are at full blast. Somewhere way up north an iceberg sadly and disconsolately melts.

Black ants wander aimlessly around my laptop. Here and there on desks and the floor, remnants of late night snacks lay scattered about. I wheel my chair over still-crunchy bits of chips. Bubble-wrap would have been so much better.

My work is finally done.
I find that it is indeed raining and rather heavily. Music, a constant companion on my drive back home seems unnecessary. Thought clouds, of a bedroom with a rumpled bed and 3:30am light, fill my mind. The normal 30 min drive takes shorter but seems longer. The minutes spent honking outside my apartment gate trying to wake the watchman but not the neighbours seem the longest.

Life is stressful and yet strangely fulfilling. I skip the dinner that awaits me on the table and return it to the cold discomfort of the refrigerator.

I hit the bed in my vest and boxers. I think I am asleep in minutes.