He awoke from the sound of the neighbor’s dog barking at the trolling garbage truck. It’s brakes hissed as it came to a stop. He instinctively reached over to hit the snooze button and realized the alarm was silent. He peered at his alarm clock. ‘Oh crap! I overslept!’ Drowsiness immediately morphed into panic as he realized he was late for work. ‘How long was I out?’ he thought to himself. ‘What day is it? Tuesday? Thursday?’ 

Taking 2 stairs at a time, he went downstairs. His wife turned to greet him as he entered the kitchen. ‘Hi Hon-‘

‘Don’t hi hon me! Why didn’t you wake me up? I must have slept through my alarm and now I’m screwed! How long was I out?’

She smiled, not yet comprehending just how mad he was, and said, ‘You looked so peaceful, so I turned off the alarm. You were sleeping soundly and I thought you could use the rest. It has been eons since you took any days off.’

Wait. Did she say a day or days off? He thought.

‘You know there is a reason for that right?’ he said, ‘I don’t get vacation honey bun.’ ‘You act like we have the things we have by some mysterious coincidence. His anger ramping up with every word. ‘Now I have to play catch up at work. A day off….’ He mumbled. 

He glanced at his watch. ‘Look at the time!’ Again, he realized he isn’t even sure what day it is. ‘Now I know how Rip Van Winkle felt.’ ‘How long was I out?!!’ ‘What day is today?!’ he yelled.

‘Are you leaving without eating breakfast?’ she asked. 

‘Yes! YES! I have TO GO!. You know I don’t eat breakfast anyway. Or lunch or dinner for that matter.’

‘OK then dear. What are you going to do to get caught up?’ she asked quietly. 

Maybe it was the gesture of breakfast or the years of gentle patience, but she always had the ability to settle him down. To make him feel that everything would be alright even though each thought he had said otherwise.

In a much more calm tone, he said, ‘I’ll come up with something. I always do.’ As he headed to the garage, he turned and said he would call on his way home and check to see if she needed anything from the store.

She flashed the smile he had fallen for all those years ago.

He grabbed his trusty scythe by the door, turned and said, ‘I’ll see you tonight babe’ as he headed out the door. 

His thoughts churned while he sat in his car as it warmed up. Tsunami? Too local. A plague? Nah -antibiotics. An airborne virus? Hmmm…. It’ll have to spread quickly to make up for my ‘day off’ he chuckled. It may take out a few people early but if you’re gonna make an omelet… He was starting to feel better already. His bony fingers guided his hood over his head as The Reaper backed out of his driveway. He had a lot of work to do.