Is it because you're stressed?

Another annoying wake-me-up from the alarm… Another tedious breakfast… You know the drill.

I’m blessed with good-legs, as my car is still in the workshop… At least I can enjoy the scenery. Hey, they are painting that rusty McDonald’s sign! It looks so…

Wait, why is it demolished?! Why… why is the street burning?! What is going on?! Wait... What... WHAT IS THAT THING?! WHAT HAPPENED TO ITS FACE?!

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“Rand? Rand!! Are you there? Wake up!”

I suddenly found myself being yelled by Anderson. He was shaking and yelling at me, until I shut him up. I can’t… What happened?

“You were staring at the McDonald’s like a complete moron! And you were screaming like a madman!”

I was a bit shaken after that experience. It was so vivid… It was like if I was really there… That McDonald’s was all destroyed, like if a bomb exploded on it. The streets surrounding it were all holed and covered in flames… It seemed like a warzone… And it felt so real… I could feel the heat, smell the smoke… And that thing... Its face...

I was very dazed to keep going on my own, so Anderson was kind enough to give me a ride to the office. Life went normally then, and I felt relieved by the boredom… In fact, I never thought I would look at my paper-filled desk with bedroom eyes…

Okay, it wasn’t that shocked… But I felt a bit good to back on planet Earth. According to the time-table, I was supposed to leave early today…  So maybe it was going to be a good day.

Often, the longest part of my job queue is organizing the files. It is highly tedious if there are many files…  But you know? It can be oddly calming.  Seeing so many expedients… makes you feel a bit powerful. After all, you are the ones taking the important decisions, not them.

After a few hours of mindless organizing, Anderson reminded me of the break time. However, instead of going to that boring caffe at the other side of the street, we stayed in the ground floor of the building. We had a big telly there, and it’s not very often that you see breaking news…

“In what seemed to be one of the most unlucky events on this country’s history, at least fifty persons were sent to the hospital after been diagnosed with an incredibly powerful and virulent form of botulism in the middle of a charity rally. It is not known how they got the disease, but is highly suspicious that most of the victims were business tycoons and politicians. We will keep you updated, when more information is available.”

We stared at each other for some moments… And then, Anderson remembered us that our CEO went to that charity party.... Botulism… My God… What if it’s another of those processing plant outbreaks? I don’t want to get infected! I better die in a fire than being slowly paralysed!

Anderson thinks we should pay John a visit…. And so does half of the staff. He’s that amazing