Pause

It’s 7.17 in the evening and your work is finally done. Your eyelids ache to continue the motion of open, close, open, close open. Blinking is a matter of stamina now. So, you head to the window. You lean against the frame and watch the sky have its usual hysteria. Today, it wavers between blush and orange, unsure of which colour to don to bid the sun adieu. His Lordship of Burning Gas had made an honest day’s work creating hues of azure admired by few.

The heavenly drama isn’t distraction enough. Ever the persistent, you play 'Sham' on your phone. As the singer serenades the evening, you taste the slow-setting chill of the dusk. A salve for your burning eyes. You sit there until a booming voice on call stands beside you for better connectivity. Close quarters are the new apocalypse.

You wonder if this is it. If this is how every day will be from now on till your old age. A morning of stress, an afternoon of calls, a flurry of work to finish by dusk and a tired night planning the next day’s encore. It is hard to see yourself do this, day in, day out, without a break in the cycle.

So instead you pause and let your senses wash over you. The sky finally decides on an impatient orange. You rest your cheek on the cool railing and for the next half an hour, you forget. The work, the tiredness, the enthusiasm. It’s all a part of life. But here right now, allow a moment to break away. 

You blink. 

The orange has vanished and a single fleck of a star remains. Time for a post-work snack.