The Michael Swayne Story V: King of his Castle

I woke up this morning at 3:45am to this loud meowing noise. As I sit there on my bed in the dark, I wonder why it's so loud. I see the silhouette of something move on my bedroom floor. I walk to the light switch and see nothing where the moving thing was. I turn around, and see Itsy Bitsy sitting on my couch.

I did not let Itsy Bitsy in the house. I remember putting her out. What I didn't remember was that I opened my window before I went to sleep because my room was so hot. I forgot that the screen of this window had a big hole in it from Itsy Bitsy always trying to play with it. She climbed through the hole and explored in my room. And when she couldn't figure out how to leave my room the way she came in, she started meowing. I put her out, and closed the window before she could climb back through it.

And wouldn't you know it, I couldn't get back to sleep. I tried to go back to sleep for about three hours. At 7am, I got out of bed and got ready for work. Dad drove me to the office at 8:45am. After I turned the heaters on, I went to the Post Office and checked the mail. There were only three checks to come in. That made my job of writing the deposit and cash journal quite easy. After I got back from the bank, I started on my work.

I typed up some news that came in, as well as a couple obituaries. The owner E-mailed an ad for the paper, but the ad was bigger than what we use. And since I haven't figured how to resize the ads yet, I just built the ad from scratch to look like the original. Then, I started fitting the pieces of this week's paper together. The paper looked great. There was only one problem...

I only had seven pages!

I have to have eight pages, but I didn't have any ads to make the last page. I searched through the E-Mails for anything I may have missed. All that was left were junk messages.

Everything would have been a lot better for me, if I hadn't been the only person working today. Gabby was meant to come in, but she didn't arrive until 2:50pm (ten minutes before we close). Iris had class, as did Misty. Misty did come in when she said she would (1:50pm), but didn't stay long. She forgot about a test she had to study for, so she couldn't stay and sell the rest of the space in the paper. She told me to find some articles in the Inbox to put in. I was to put the paper together as if I were sending it to press. I found some stuff I could use, but then the owner came and talked to me for fifteen minutes. I didn't finish the paper. I will be doing that tomorrow when I come in. Then, everything will get tightened and fit nicely and we will have the paper ready. As long as everyone who is scheduled to work actually comes in to work.

As I was heading up Main Street to head home, I see Dad driving toward me. He pulls in at the laundromat, and I turn around to meet him. I load up my bike, and hop in the truck. I ask Dad what's wrong, because he never comes to get me. He says that he had to get gas, because he is going to Dayton. Dad told me that my brother called, and he was crying. His life has gotten worse. The owner of the car he wrecked raised the price if my brother wants to buy it. From $2,000 to $10,000. And there is a possibility that the owner may say that my brother stole the car, so my brother would be stuck with paying for the repairs of both cars involved as well as charged with stealing a car.

So when Dad dropped me off, he almost immediately drove away. He came in to get a piece of candy, and told me that he'd be back some time tonight.

That means that once again I am here by myself. It is very relaxing. I have a Cindy Yen album

This isn't one of the songs I'm listening to, but it is one of my favorites of hers.

as I type this. I had a couple hot pockets for dinner, because I didn't want to cook for just myself. Especially since Dad won't be back until late tonight.

I don't know what the plan is for the rest of the night. I want to stay up until Dad gets back, so I will need to find something to do to keep me awake.

Anyway, that's about it for now. I hope to see you around the forums, and until then...

Later!

Michael