My wrist buzzes and I swing my arm up to my face.
Drop everything and see what they want.
Drop everything.
See what they need.
Funny how I drop everything to work on anything else.
But isn’t living just wading through a sea of drafted emails you’re too anxious to send?
I’ve stopped and started writing this 27 times.
All because my wrist buzzes and I swing my arm up to my face.
Then, I’m off. Off on another task.
My time. My eyes. My ears.
Nose. Mouth. Owned by the buzz in my pocket.
Owned by the buzz on my wrist.
Owned by the ding on my desk.
Tongue is dry. Get up. Have a drink. Stretch these tingling legs.
Again, my wrist buzzes and I swing my arm up to my face.
Drop everything and see what they want.
We need it by five but really we need it by four. We needed it yesterday.
Needed it yesterday. What happened yesterday?
It’s today and not yesterday, right?
Wrist buzzes. Sale at Target.
Needed to pick up something at Target. Orange juice.
Sounds good. I’m thirsty. Tongue is dry.
I’ve been holding in my morning coffee for hours.
Rip my eyes away from the bright screen.
The white screen.
Head for the passive aggressively half-shut door.
A knock on the other side.
Do you have
a minute? Wrist buzzes.
My wrist is buzzing. Do I feel it? My wrist is buzzing.
Wake up. I’m late and my wrist is buzzing. It’s today and not yesterday.
Swing my arm up to my face and please, god, even if just for a minute,
snooze the buzzing.
Leanne Kelly, a born and raised Chicagoan, graduated from Columbia College Chicago in 2016 with a degree in Television Writing and Producing. She is currently enrolled in graduate school at National Louis University, where she studies writing with a focus on screenwriting. Leanne lives along the lake in Edgewater with her fiancé, Tony, their two cats, and too many fake plants.
–Art by Kithusa