Fresh Water

They were all silent when we pulled up. A good dozen individuals with varying sizes of containers all stood in a row, waiting their turn to grab fresh water from the well. 
"Here?" I asked in an undertone. 
"Here." My dad said solemnly, parking the car, and grabbing two gallon jugs out of the back of the car. "Come on. Get yours too." He moved to join the others in line.
Reluctantly, I took two more jugs from the backseat, silently moving up behind my dad, peering around him to keep an eye on the others. 

-Inspiration from grabbing water from a spring.

Donut Lunch

"Are there anymore donuts left?" I asked quietly, looking at the box sitting on the chair. 
The manager grimaced, immediately looking guilty. "No, they're gone." 
"Oh." I resisted the urge to wrap an arm around my stomach, hoping that the rumbling from there wasn't heard by the manager. I'd gotten one earlier in the morning when the managers had first come in with them. A meager breakfast that I had treasured having not eaten since the day before yesterday. 
I'd had the hope of obtaining another one for my lunch break. A silly hope. 
"Okay." I continued, turning away. I would have nothing for lunch again. That was fine. 
"Are you hungry?" The manager asked. "I'm just about to grab lunch, you want something?" 
I opened my mouth, but hesitated. Unsure of my answer. Yes I wanted lunch. But at this point, until I could get paid...I had no way to pay him back. "I'm fine." I whispered, offering a weak smile. 
His eyes narrowed. "A hamburger then? My treat." 
I blinked taken aback. Huh? Hadn't I just said I was..."Uh...sure." I ducked my head. "If that's okay." 

-Inspiration from work

I had a headache at work today.
Not quite sure why I ended up with it.
Possibly slight stressed involved.
Or tension in the muscles.
A bad dream where I was running from a fire in a house....
*shrugs*

Thankfully some meds and a nap helped to get it gone. 

Me: We should write!
Brain: ……
Me: ….Brain? Write? Let's do the thing.
Brain: Tired.
Me: Huh?
Brain: Tired!
Me: But I gave you a break! We need to start a new writing thing! Finish it!
Brain: TI-R-ED! REST LONGER!!
Me: *exhales* Fine. 

Off

I flicked on the lights.
Or tried to at least.
Up and down up and down.
The lights over my head remained off.
Power outage?
No....I had seen the neightbors next door, they'd had their lights shining in their living room which meant--
I groaned. Leaning my head against the wall, letting my hand drop from the switch.
I'd forgotten the power bill.
Of all the things I needed to pay....I'd forgotten that.
And without a paycheck until next Friday....it looked like I was doomed to be in darkness for a while longer. 

-Inspiration from power being shut off

I'm not surprised I got a headache.
I'd stayed up until 4am the past couple of days working to get a fic finished and posted as it was my due date to have it posted yesterday. 

It also didn't help that I had work this morning.
So I only got a couple of hours of sleep.

Which I somehow managed to function well enough on.
But I knew the headache would come.
I get headaches from too little sleep.
Add the stress of work on top of that...
And it's not a good mixture lol.

It didn't hit until later in the day though.
Thankfully it didn't get bad until later in the evening....
But yah. It's bad enough that I can't focus....
Hopefully it doesn't keep me up all night. But...it is the type of headache to do just that. *exhales* 

Blink Blink

I stared at the screen, my fingers twitching but not pressing any keys. I had to......I had to....what? I slowly blinked, then blinked again, my hazy vision coming into focus as my eyes gained a the faintest of breaks from open air. 
...How long had it been since I last blinked? I raised a shaky hand to scrubbing at my face. I'd been at this for hours. Hours longer than I should have. Why....was it taking so long? 
I exhaled.
Blinked.
Onward. I had to....finish. 

-Inspiration from writing

Me: *starting over the same T.V. series for the twentieth time this week* 
Netflix: Are. You. Serious?! WATCH SOMETHING ELSE ALREADY! 
Me: O_o But...I'm writing! I can write to this! 
Netflix: *grumbles gesturing to all the other shows*

Drinks?

"Here." Teddy plopped down a cup in front of my face, startling me out of my daze. "Take this."
I blinked, staring at the cup with a raised eyebrow. "What is it?" I asked, hesitantly grabbing the cup.
"Smoothie. Thought you could use a pick-me-up from the crazy day we've had today." 
I grinned. He could say that again. "Thank you." I said, fervently before taking a sip.
I closed my eyes as the tangy taste hit my tongue. "Ahhhh."
"Like it?"
"Mhmmm!" 
"Good." 

-Inspiration from work

Oh yes. I’m writing a “short chapter.” *rolls eyes*
Do I even know the meaning of the phrase?
I thought I did.
My fingers, apparently, do not.

I woke up with a headache today. Not quite sure why...possibly a slight irritation with my contacts? Or I was stressing over something.
Work didn't really help me out in that regards.
I ended up opening by myself again and had to deal with more customers who....were asking difficult questions and getting on my nerves....

Thankfully the headache faded away after some Advil, heatpacks and being able to be home and not interacting with people for a bit. 

Ended up with a headache this afternoon.
Pretty sure it's just from me being irritated with noises again. 
It faded once I was able to find some time away from things where I could unwind.

More Food?

I hunkered down in the break room, eyes closing as I sucked on the sucker I'd found in the back of my locker. Only four more days until pay day. 
Only four more days until I'd be able to buy food.
Four more days until I wasn't as broke.
I swallowed, pulling the candy from my mouth, staring at it.
One sucker.
Four more days.
I exhaled.
I needed to find a better job. 

-Inspiration from a coworker's comment. 

I woke up with a headache this morning. I think it might have just been from sleeping tense as my dreams weren't....the most relaxing.
It seemed a bit of heat and some Excedrin helped it to go away.

But it came back later this evening...possibly because I didn't eat very much throughout the day and was focused on writing and such.

Again it's fading now that I've taken out my contacts and such.
So hopefully it doesn't hang around to bug me in the morning. 

Locked?

I frowned, jiggling the handle once more. 
Locked.
I looked up, turning in place to make sure I had come to the right door.
I had.
So why then was this door locked?
It was never locked. 
I exhaled, jiggling the handle one more time for good measure before I let go, and turned to rest my back against the door.
Just my luck.
The one time I actually needed to get into this room was the one time I couldn't. The one time when all the managers with the keys had already left for the day.
Now what?

-Inspiration from work 

I've had a headache plaguing me off and on this afternoon.

I think it's probably triggered just from taking too long of a nap after a semi stressful day of work. 
-Work being semi stressful because I got done with my tasks super early and spent the rest of the day struggling to find something to do while waiting for customers to come into the store. 

But yah. A nap possibly triggered it.
Though I am wondering if there's something in my diet that's affecting the headaches too. 
Like I've noticed the past couple of days that a headache has started up soon after eating bread...so like...is there an issue with that? Or  is it just a coincidence? I'll probably need to pay attention for the next little bit and see for sure. 

Me: And….DONE! Take that Chapter! Ha! 

Brain: We did it! Wooo!! *applause* 

Me: Sweet! Now onward! To the next chapter! 

Brain: …… about that.

Me: >.> What? 

Brain: I…..uh, ^^;; Haven’t actually thought through that one yet? 

Me: *head desk* *groans* 

Me: Okay only six more chapters to go!
*thinks it over* 
*calculates* 
*readjusts thoughts*
Me: Only twelve more chapters to go! 

Me: *comes up with a scene between two characters* 

*fifteen minutes later* 

Brain: But WHAT IF we switch their roles?! And have A do what B is doing and have B do what A is doing! 

Me: ….and you wonder why I struggle to write out your ideas, Brain. 

It was a tension of dealing with opening by myself, along with being unable to help some customers that probably caused today's headache.
The present smoke probably isn't helping still either.

But yah.
I don't like it when I can't help people.
Like there's only so much I can do when we don't have the product the customer wanted in stock.
Nor carry it at all.

Plus like...when they ask for a specific thing....and you show them what you have and it's not the right size of specific thing?? *exhales* 

Yah. It gets me on edge.
I don't like failing in helping people. :( 

I've had a headache behind my left eye for a lot of today.
There's an ache in my ear and and ache in my neck....

And I can't tell if it's just from tension.
Or if it's a side effect of all the smoke sitting heavily in the valley. 
Though considering it started up yesterday with the influx of smoke....
I'm tempted to believe the continuation of my headache is because of it too. 

There's fires burning all around us here.
Mostly to the south.
And it hasn't really been an issue....well a noticeable issue. 

But today....I stepped outside...and it smelt like a camp fire.

Smoke was thick in the air today.

So thick. The mountains are invisible due to the haze.
Due to the blaze.

And dealing with the smoke...agh. it makes my head ache.
There behind my left eye. 

It's unknown when the fires will be out.
But I hope that rain comes soon.
That the air is clean. 
That the fires leave....

We shall see. 

It's actually rather amazing that I haven't had a major aftershock headache occur yet today.
Usually after a major nuclear headache I get 'after shocks.'
But the ones today have been rather minor.
And I've managed to keep them away with Excedrin and Essential Oils. 
So that's been nice. 
To not have it be major.
To not be laid low for another day in a row. 
Yay. 

The minor headache went nuclear last night becoming full blown irritating and very draining migraine that made it difficult to sleep.
Still.
I tried to go to work with it still pounding away at my skull.
My manager noticed, and after asking my coworker if they could stay later (which they could) my manager sent me home early to recover from said migraine.
So I ended up sleeping for like...4 or 5 hours.
And for the most part it's kinda mostly gone.
Just on the fringes really. 
Where I'm cautious about doing things or moving because I don't want to trigger it back to being worse.
Sooo we'll see.
I expect I'll be recovered tomorrow for work.
But for now....I'm going to rest. 

I have a slight headache forming behind my left eye currently.
Pretty sure it's probably from the stress of writing. 
And maybe not enough sleep.
but more from the stress of trying to write. *exhales* 

It's the first Sunday of the month.
Which means Fast Sunday.
Which means obligatory headache. 
*shakes head*
Dear self.
Why? 

Brain: We should tell the chapter from Character A's pov!!
Me: Okay!!!
Brain: No, wait!
Me: ????
Brain: Maybe it would be better if we told it from Character's B pov instead!
Me: Okay!!
Brain: But....does that work?
Me: ??
Brain: Can we get the same story from B as we would from A?
Me: Uh....
Brain: NO WE WOULDN'T!!
Me: Sooo we need to do A?
Brain: No! NO!! 
Me: Sooo B then?
Brain: NO!!!
Me: We have to pick one!!
Brain: But WHICH ONE?! We need to tell the BEST story and I don't know WHICH character would do that.
Me: …..
Brain: *running around wailing* Too many choices!!!!!!
Me: *exhales* 

...

I gave myself a headache today.
Tension based mostly.
Probably also too much exposure to heat mixed in there because it was HOT today.
But mostly it's tension.
Because I have this project I need to be working on.
And I'm not.
I haven't worked on it in like three days and I keep feeling obligated to socialize and go do things and that means my project is getting left in the DUST and all I want to do is write it and GAH.

I need a vacation from civilization. 

Brain: *quickly cycling through twelve different story ideas* 
Me: Stop.
Brain: NO.
Me: You're making me dizzy.
Brain: ALL THE IDEAS!!!
Me: Can we just focus on one??
Brain: *cycling faster* ALL. THE. IDEAS!!
Me: *exhales* ….apparently not. 

A Risk

My hands hovered over the keyboard as I stared at the screen, heart in my throat. 
No.
I shake my head, turn away....turn back. 
Yes?
No.
I shakily inhale, again double checking the email address, the requirements, if I had connected the links correctly. 
I had.
It was as perfect as I could make it.
Now all I needed to do was---
I clicked "Send" 
Wait. 

-Inspiration from random daydreams about making friends