The velvety chime from the phone goes off at
5:15. I’ve been awake since 4:30. Laying in bed, my mind is tired but my body
is kicking to get moving. I want to sleep in until 6:00. That’s not going to
happen. Once I’m awake, the day is a treadmill I’ve been strapped to. No wonder
those used to be torture devices in 19th century debtors’ prisons.
I exhale forcefully, the air rushing through my
chapped...