Morning Coffee

Its funny how you don’t ever really appreciate things until you no longer have them, until they are gone. We were 16. What 16 year old appreciates anything really? I remember there was this one morning, I must have gotten a total of like 3 hours sleep the night before. I show up for first period like I have just crossed the finish line at the NYC marathon, all breathless and sweaty and full of teenage drama. I slide into my seat just as the final bell rings and lay my head down on my desk, letting my long curly hair fall all over the place. I am like that for like a full minute, relishing the coolness of the desk on my cheek, the darkness underneath my folded arms, when I feel a gentle tap on my shoulder. I pop my head up, ready to apologize, but Mrs. J is just smiling at me and in her hand is what looks like a chocolate croissant. “Here,” she says. “You need this more than I do.” Like I said you never appreciate things in the moment. Looking back now I am pretty sure that lady just fl

A s always, Hallie woke up right before her alarm went off. Despite this, she still set the alarm every night before bed, just in case. You never knew when something that was routine might suddenly change. Although if Hallie was being perfectly honest, not much ever changed around here, not unless there was a accidental bug in one of the Network updates, and even those they usually fixed within minutes. She sat up and slid her bare feet into the fuzzy brown slippers that were always on the floor right by her bed. She then yawned, did a few quick stretches and shuffled her way into the kitchen. There was a mug of steaming hot coffee already brewed in the pot. Hallie added some half and half and a spoonful of sugar, and sat on a tall kitchen stool, wrapping her hands around the mug, enjoying the warmth on her skin. When she was finished with her coffee she stood up and spoke out loud to the empty room. “Hey Siri, set my day.” She couldn’t feel anything of course, but she knew that the ch