WAG #23 Consequences

Cally had forgotten soda has caffeine. He’d forgotten how sensitive he could be to caffeine, but when there was nothing else to wash down dinner, he drank it.

He was puzzled why he was managing to catch the eleven o’clock news. The program was already showing the weather forecast when he realized he really needed to go to bed.

The pillow… hurt. It didn’t seem as comfortable tonight. Of course, his head was filled with those horrible news events. What a terrible world.

Might as well stay up and read. Hmmm… fantasy book, Terry Pratchett, Discworld.

He woke when the book fell off the bed. He couldn’t figure out why the light was on. Oh, yeah, the bad news on TV kept him up.

Now he couldn’t get back to sleep.

Might as well stay up and watch TV.

There was nothing on but info-mercials. Who buys this crap?

Wow, that VacSharkSucker does a really good job. Where did he put his wallet? He’d figure out a way to replace the rent money later.

He woke to the morning news on TV. Why was the TV on? Why wasn’t he in bed?

Oh yeah, got worried about the security of his debit card number after giving it to the people on TV. He’d watched a little longer; they seemed trustworthy.

He hadn’t been awoken by his alarm however; he had to be at work in an hour.

Raced through heating water in the microwave while getting dressed. Poured the instant powder into the cup.

He ran straight into the hall closet door that he left open. Banged his nose. Coffee on his shirt. Coffee on the carpet. And dammit, he now had no coffee.

Time to pull a college trick; instant coffee mixed into a can of soda.

He’d have to down the soda, because he rode a motorcycle for his commute. The jolt would be a bit of a shock, but he was certain that the shakiness would stop by noon.

Too bad about the car getting repossessed. He would have sold it but he owed more than it was worth.

He zipped in and out of traffic on his Honda, trying to make up for lost time spent changing into clean clothes.

The VacSharkSucker was half his rent money. How was he going to pay it back?

He shouldn’t have bought it. He couldn’t afford it.

Hey, Mother’s Day was coming up. Had his sister gotten anything for Mom? Would she go half-zees on the thing? It was so cool. Maybe he could get his sister to help pay for it.

Thinking of how to scheme against his sister, he didn’t notice that the traffic light before him had turned red. There was a bus about to intersect his path.



The bus driver had forgotten how greasy pizza was. He’d forgotten how sensitive his stomach could be to grease, but when there was nothing else for dinner, he ate it.

He was surprised at how much pain he felt; enough to keep him from getting to sleep, so he stayed up way past his bedtime to watch the news and wait for the antacids to kick in.

When they did, he went to bed.

The pillow…hurt.



WAG Topic #23: “Ripple”. When our characters walk their worlds, the world reacts. So for this week, look only at reactions. Observe a person and describe the reaction of the world to them. What can you tell about them based solely on the reaction of others? What kind of impression are they making on the world, the environment, the people around them, even on you? What is changing (even subtley) because of their existence? Are they aware of it? No Rules! Now Write! (Now, instead of a deadline we have an ending date. You may add links to this list between now and 25 MAY 2010.)