Short Stories 189 — Writing Prompt 22

Forget Ferris Bueller, you were detemined to make this the best day off. Ever.

It has been a couple of very tough months, in the kitchen. The head chef was out of town and I had to handle everything on his behalf. And I have no idea how the hell he does this job. It is such a difficult role and he does it with ease, without breaking a sweat.

I called him yesterday and he will be joining us from tomorrow onwards. And I am thrilled about it. Since he is coming back, I have taken two days to leave and the Sunday will also be off, so it is quite a cluster of holidays, and I think I deserve every single one of them. I have been breaking my back, managing these fools, and can’t wait to hit the bed and not worry about getting up early in the morning for the next three days. But still, I need to complete today's work and there are 3 to 4 hours left for the shift to end.

I haven’t been so happy in few weeks. Working has its won rewards and dopamine boosts, but at the same time, I won’t lie, but I can’t wait to go home. I finished my work and said my final goodbyes as I was literally going on some kind of mini-vacation, at this point three days off, feels more than a mine vacation, to be honest.

As I walked home, I giggled like a 12-year-old child, after seeing a chocolate ice cream. Since the call with the boss, I had been making plans of what I am going to do. My today’s plan was to go home and plant myself in front of the TV with a bottle of whiskey in hand and get blasted into oblivion. I did not care about anything else, I just wanted to relax, not even care about what is going on, on the TV. Just wanted to see how it feels. And that is exactly what I did after I reacted home.

As I sat in front of the TV, I was really enjoying it for a while, but after some time, I started to get bored out of my mind. I did not want to cook and so I ordered food. And I drank little by little as I waited for food. The alcohol also doesn’t have its effect as it used to in the older days, days when I was young. Or I must say that it hits too strong now. Back in the day, I could chug alcohol like a monster, but now, few pegs in, my legs start to wobble like a wet noddle. And the alcohol too isn’t that fun anymore. It is only fun with friends and nothing else.

Now here I am sitting in front of the couch, a little bit tipsy, watching a show that is dogshit, hungry, and waiting for the food. I downed the remaining alcohol and closed the bottle and kept it aside. I wasn’t enjoying it and so there is no point in drinking. Switched the channel to sports and now the mood was slightly better. And after a while, the food arrived. I fell asleep within half an hour after eating it.

The next morning I woke up. I asked myself, “Do I really want to spend these three days like this or should I do something else. something interesting, something fun, something that will make me feel alive and not old and sad.”

As I stood up I saw a pamphlet, about indoor mountain climbing. I always wanted to try it and this seemed like an amazing opportunity, and so I pounced on it. Reached there to attend the free first day and see if I enjoy it or not.

And to my surprise I enjoyed it. I did some rock climbing in my college days, but nothing spectacular. But today it was fun. My hands ached, and now my back muscles hurt for some reason. But it made me feel alive, I enjoyed every single moment of it. Meet new people and they seem to be very good at it. I am actually considering visiting the gym and maybe even become a regular member.

I came home in the afternoon. And while I came home, I saw another ad about bumper cars. Something that I did when I was really, really young. Actually, it was my dad that introduced me to this game, and haven't played in decades. Maybe I should give it another try.

Called the new people that I meet, to see if anyone was interested to go to this funfair and a lot of them showed up. And seeing so many new people, I was really happy bout it. And there we enjoyed not only the bumper car event but many other events till late at night.

And late-night drank with these new people. I let them know how happy I was to see these people. And this time the alcohol felt really good with the interesting conversations than sitting alone in the those watching a TV show.

Amongst the new people, there was this girl that I really loved and asked her on a date the next day. She said yes and the next day we spent it together. Went to a lovely restaurant, and was barely was able to afford it. And I told her that these dates are damn expensive to which she laughed out loud. “I like you, and your genuineness.” And that is how I lived the best weekend of my life.