All I Needed . . .

I ripped my jacket off and tossed it wherever. I quickly turned on the ceiling fan and immediately was accosted by the light, but no swirling fan blades. I yanked the chain hanging above to the left, pulling three times to the fan’s highest setting. I instantly felt cooler and yet, I could still feel my skin boiling. I yanked the chain hanging to the right, turning off the light.

The room was covered in darkness, except for the light coming from my phone, T.V. and laptop. I frantically searched the covers of my bed for the remote.

“Damit! Why do they make these things so tiny?!” I cursed to no one.

After ripping all the covers and sheets off the bed, I heard a small clank against the metal bedframe. I bent down and couldn’t see the remote. It must have gone under the bed, which now I’d have to crawl to get. Fuck that.

I checked my nightstand and saw the cable remote. It also controlled the T.V. and I used it to turn the glaring screen off. If only I had thought of that sooner.

Next, I shut down my laptop so that if I wanted to use it, I’d have to go through the trouble of starting it back up. I knew myself well enough to know that I wouldn’t want to do that. And lastly, I put my phone on Do Not Disturb and I turned the volume and the brightness all the way down. This way, nothing and no one could bother me.

Then I stripped off all my clothes, grabbed one of my boyfriend’s t-shirts, threw the blankets back on the bed, and hopped in.

I still felt hot though. Thus, I threw off the blankets again and kept the top sheet that goes over the fitted one. Just in case I got cold. But I wasn’t cooling off fast enough.

Begrudgingly, I dragged myself out of bed and zombie-walked to the kitchen. Thank goodness I didn’t live in a mansion, or this would feel like one hell of a walk. I opened the fridge saw that there were no bottles of water.

“Son of a –“ Nope. I wasn’t going to get upset. Think.

I went to the cabinet, grabbed the biggest mug I could find and filled it with ice. Then I flipped the handle on the sink and filled it almost to the brim. I drank all the water there was and refilled it again. I drank again and refilled it one more time. Then I went back to bed, placing my mug on the nightstand.

Immediately I felt cooler than I had all day. Clearly all I needed was a drink of water. I simply was dehydrated. Go figure.

460 Words