Lunatic

I was pissed off with the computer.

In the time it took the monitor to spit out a halo of beeps and a hideously yellow screen of death, another hour of work had just been destroyed.

I swore loudly and slammed a fist down too hard on the table.

I felt better immediately but had caused collateral damage. A cold mug of coffee fell and smashed to the ground in pieces.

The cat in the corner jolted awake before he quickly composed himself. He wandered over to the mess to lick up the consequences.

I looked at the clock. It was midnight. I needed to finish by 9am for the presentation in New York where it would be still 7pm yesterday.

But if I was going to turn into a pumpkin, it was no-one’s fault but my own. I ruefully recalled my over-confident words to the boss as I showed her how this new shiny toy would improve our story. “It will look great, trust me!”

Now a few hours later, I was not so sure I trusted myself. The fatal yellow screen left me stuck on step seven of 13 and at this rate of progress I wouldn’t finish till six in the morning.

I got up from my desk and turned on the radio. A man and a woman were talking about bees and honey. It was strangely re-assuring.

I peered outside the window, where the rising Moon was more quizzical.

The Moon began to talk to me.

“What seems to be the problem?” said the Moon.

I told the Moon about the meeting. I mentioned the free software I found yesterday that sounded brilliant and easy to use. It seemed ideal for us. It would help us paint a different picture to New York.

“So when is it needed by?” the Moon asked.

“The boss wanted a dry run before the meeting, so it needs to be ready by 8am.”

“And will it be ready by then?” replied the Moon.

“I don’t know yet”.

“Well, find out,” it sniffed, and promptly hid under a cloud.

I turned around and blinked.

I thought about how long I had to go before the point of no return.

The cat was no help; it was asleep again.

I sat back at the desk with a fresh coffee.

I carefully re-read the instructions while the computer whirred back into life.