Feel the Rush
I’m late. So late. Can’t believe it. The clock is ticking, and my heart is pounding in my chest. Got to get coffee. Just need it.
Rush into the cafe. The guy behind the counter is in one of his moods. Chatty. Friendly. No time for that.
“Coffee. Black. To go,” I snap. But he’s telling me about his day, his kids, something. Not listening.
People outside are ambling along. Too slow. Move! I weave in and out of them, frustrated. The escalators are packed. People standing on the wrong side. Can’t get past.
Look at my watch. Train leaves in 4 minutes. It’s hot, I’m sweating, but it’s a cold day. Doesn’t make sense.
Dodging dogs on leads, kids with their oblivious parents. Everything is an obstacle.
Get to the platform just as the train pulls in. Spill my coffee on the way. Damn! Hot liquid spreading across my hand. No time to react.
Heart racing, I jump on the train just as the doors are closing. Made it. Barely. Now to catch my breath.
Just as I start to breathe, the announcement comes.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we apologise, but this train is out of service due to a technical issue. Please disembark and make your way to platform 6 for the next train. Thank you.”
What? No. This can’t be happening.
I jump up, rushing to the door. The crowd is moving like molasses. “Excuse me, excuse me,” I say, pushing through. My stress level is through the roof.
Reach the platform just as the train is pulling in. Relief floods my body. Can’t miss this one. No time.
Phone rings. It’s the boss. Answer it, panting. “Sorry, boss. Train issues. I’m on my way. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Boss isn’t happy. “You know how important this meeting is,” he says. “You said you’d be on time.”
“I know, I know. I’m sorry. I’ll make it up. I promise.”
Hang up. Feel the weight of the world on my shoulders. Train starts moving. Look at the clock. Meeting starts in 20 minutes. No way I’m going to make it. Pressure is immense. Can’t let the boss down. Not today.
Inktober 2023
31 Days – 31 Drawings – 31 Tales
12 Comments on Inktober Rush
LL
30th Oct, 2023 10:10
A day in the life?
Sometimes I wonder if that sort of pace can even be considered to be “life” – you know?
Jules Smith
30th Oct, 2023 11:10
Feels a lot like it at the moment!
It’s not life, it’s pure stress. Ridiculous.
the late phoenix
30th Oct, 2023 13:10
Logan’s Run!!! ’70s sci-fi at its best. I LOVE this Shadowman you’ve drawn, mah dahlin, he’s exciting and mysterious, reminds me of the Electronica Museum in DTLA in the ’80s, you’d put your hand on the video board and it would capture your palmprint digitally and leave it on the board forever lit up in computer green!!!
you’ve tapped into Tom Cruise’s lucid dream with this story, the Mission Impossible theme music plays in the background. the rush!!! I can’t do anything without my morning coffee, I must become a Chatty Cathy in the morning or the day’s no good.
oooh, I love the second pic down below, there’s you on the far right!!! it’s a Charles Dickens chimneysweep convention. and that woman on the other side of the 5, I love her cute little tiny vacuum for train spills.
*)
Jules Smith
30th Oct, 2023 14:10
Shadow man lives at the Electronica museum in DTLA. Well, he used to until he did a triathlon and now he lives UTBIF ( uptown Barrow in Furness)
Mission Impossible music is perfect. That should add to the stress nicely.
I like that it could be a hoover for train spills she’s holding. I think the middle man looks a bit Jewish and he’s wishing he could be as hyper as the skateboarder in front of him. *)
Bathwater
30th Oct, 2023 14:10
Are you leaving us with a cliffhanger?
Jules Smith
30th Oct, 2023 14:10
I know. How cruel am I? What happened next? Did they lose their job?
You’ll have to wait for the Netflix series next year, BW. 😉
Paul M
31st Oct, 2023 15:10
Ruthie’s Danish grandmother would say to people rushing around,
“Ya vell, ya should left a lille sooner.”
We’ve all been there…but they never remember “why you were late”, they just remember you were late. Deep breath, in a year it won’t be important life moves whether we’re on the train or not.
Jules Smith
31st Oct, 2023 16:10
She’s not wrong. But then you can be too early. Still, that’s better than being late.
That’s so true, Paul. You are wisdomous.
Paul M
1st Nov, 2023 12:11
I think it’s more observance as I gain years on the planet, and working towards “living life more elegantly” (which may be a product of my sliver of English ancestry coming to bear). As I look back in the rearview and see that “thing” which caused so much consternation, I realize that most of the time was a nit on the scale of life and not as important as I thought. Pretty sure this dynamic emerges for us all as we get more seasoned.
Jules Smith
1st Nov, 2023 19:11
Yes, the bouquet of fine, seasoned wine is much the same: elegantly assured and smooth.
LSP
1st Nov, 2023 00:11
This post resonates.
Imagine being at the Pick ‘n Steal, on an urgent schedule and there’s someone in dirty pajama bottoms and flip flops playing the lottery on food stamps in front of you.
You could braid that weave yourself in the time it takes to complete that transaction, and we don’t even have passenger rail.
Jules Smith
1st Nov, 2023 11:11
Having been there I can picture it vividly and also feel the inner rage as if I were right behind them. Ugh.
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