Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Story Fragment #23: Rick

I awoke with a jolt, looking immediately at my bedside clock. Four o'clock in the morning--really? Who plays music loud enough to wake the dead at that hour?

Slowly orienting myself, I realized the sound was coming through the walls, from the apartment next door. I had heard from other neighbors that Rick, the occupant of that apartment, was something of an eccentric character, but I had yet to get to know him. No time like the present, I supposed.

After throwing on some clothes and picking up my keys, I exited my apartment and knocked, loudly, on Rick's door several times. When he finally opened the door, he blinked several times as though perplexed by my presence.

I introduced myself as his relatively new neighbor, then got right to the heart of the problem. "Would you mind turning down your music? I have to be at work at 8 AM, and I was counting on at least two more hours of sleep."

Again he looked at me with confusion in his eyes. "What time is it, anyway?"

"It's 4 AM," I explained patiently.

"Really? When I get deeply involved in what I'm doing, I lose all track of time and can't even remember if it's day or night."

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