A Day Without Batteries – A Short Story

Josh G

Friday, September 14, 2007

A wonderful morning arises as the rays of sunlight burst from the clouds into the room of a young 21 year old man named Austin. Squirming in his bed sheets with no hurry to get out of bed, he begins to notice something that could change the entire momentum of his day. His alarm clock is dead. Quickly he jumps to his feet, worried that he has overslept hours past his 8:00am to 5:00pm work schedule; he begins to search for his trusty Motorola V60 which never lets him down. “Ahh. There you are!” Austin says with a breath of relief. Suddenly, as he picks up his cell phone, he realizes there is something big missing. Austin yells with a panic, “WHERE IS THE BATTERY!?” Quickly he turns to his AC adapter only to find the wires have been chewed by his cat named Fluffy. “Oh no.” he says. “Why now fluffy? Why now.” then Austin begins to glance upwards towards his VCR flashing the time 8:45am. Let down by his hopes he gently whispers, “I can’t believe this...”

After rushing through his closets like a cyclone and eating a breakfast faster than a flying chipmunk, he jumps in his car only to realize his car won’t start. Twisting the key harder and harder as if breaking the key would help start the car, he begins to fluster and bounce impatiently, “Come on! Come on! Battery! Don’t die on me now!” In complete disappointment and frustration Austin decides to stay home in hopes of purchasing new batteries. He makes way to his cordless Motorola MD700 confident that the battery still has life since it’s only been 1 year since he purchased his phone. “Please don’t tell me…” says Austin as he attempts to make a call. “WHAT IS GOING ON! ARGH!” he yells while throwing the phone across the kitchen landing just inches away from Fluffy. Quickly he turns stomping the floor like a wild ox. Little did he know, Fluffy left an “accident” on the kitchen floor. Just then, Austin slides his foot across the ground, shifting his weight around causing him to lose control of his only balanced foot. He wails his hands in attempt to reach a solid foundation to control balance, but instead he pulls the kitchen table cloth pulling fruits and plates which shatter and scatter all over the floor. Poor Austin lays on the floor, covered in fruits, plates and a present left by Fluffy.

Fed up by the misfortune, Austin finally makes the decision to order batteries the only way he can, the Internet. Within 10 minutes, Austin finds the batteries he needs on a trustworthy website. He places the order Priority Overnight regardless of shipping charges since he was in dire need of batteries to keep his day flowing correctly. Relieved his problems will be over tomorrow, he reaches for the T.V. remote to power his Entertainment system. Again Austin begins to fluster as he begins to notice the remote is not responding. “What in the world is going on?” says Austin with a confused tone. Then suddenly a loud thunder strikes sending a vibration through the home causing his electricity to flicker and cut off. “This is not my day.” says Austin annoyed and disturbed. He then tries to find everything that would give him light. He pulls a flash light. “Nope, doesn’t work.” Then he pulls a bigger flash light. “It’s dead, too? Something is very wrong.” he says. So instead he decides to simply crawl into bed. Weary of a bad day he crawls into bed in hopes tomorrow will be a better day.

It’s morning once again and nothings changed. He still has no batteries. And he still has no time. Suddenly a voice in the distance…”Knock Knock! Fed Ex!” Austin jumps to his feet like a 4 year old boy waiting for his Dad to come home on a Christmas Eve, “Finally!! He’s here!!” He swifts the package out of the carriers hands, draws a fast scribbled line as a signature, and shuts the door without a single word but only a smile and a glowing twinkle in his eyes. The worst is over. Thanking the name on the package reading “Atbatt.com”, he places his new batteries to charge. Then he hears the engine of a car rolling outside of his home. Quickly grabbing his wallet, Austin yells, “I’ll be right there, Amy!!” then Amy replies, “Come on!! We are going to be late! Don’t make me late again or I’m firing you!” Austin laughs and begins to make his way out of his home. With one last gaze of his dead car he says, “Atbatt should really think about selling car batteries.”

The End

A Day Without Batteries – A Short Story

A Day Without Batteries – A Short Story

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