I’ve delayed this enough. Okay, I’ll delay it a bit more. I’m tired. Very tired. I thought I was being good last night. At Doolies’s urgings I stayed up to 10:30pm, my normal bedtime. I was out to the world moments after hitting the sheets. And then I woke at one forty in the morning. It was one of those awakenings where you know there’s no chance of getting back to bed but you’re too tired to do anything, like grabbing the computer and pounding on story. So I took the lazy man’s way out and trekked to the living room, popped the first DVD of HBO’s “The Wire” into the box, and proceeded through half of the first season, stopping only when my third-floor alarm clock started beeping to tell me it was time to shower.

The day wasn’t as terrible as I expected. I was tired, but a morning coffee got most of my work done, and an invigorating, snow-filled van ride home covered my evening. I seared a tuna steak and I’m now cuddling on this lonely snowy night in my favorite chair, with my green blanket and laptop to keep me warm in lieu of the Doolies.

I still feel exhaustion clawing at my britches, and I expect that I won’t have the willpower to stay up to 10:30pm again. That’s okay. I always have more of “The Wire” waiting downstairs for me. I’m not even sure if it’s good. It is there, however. And in the middle of the night, when the rest of the world—at least the physical world around you—is sleeping, it’s a way to pass the time. I know, I know, I shouldn’t be passing the time. I should be embracing the time. But there are only so many hugs I can give on cold nights.

And yes, I used this musing to push my word count so I wouldn’t have to work anymore on my story. I’m a terrible man. But the story is moving along somewhat. I have a voice, of kind, and if I don’t exactly have a plot yet, I do have vague ideas, which, if you think about it, is like a plan only, well, vaguer. Okay. I’ll stop now. Not because I have to but because I want to and because that want is to scroll up and see if I can add more words.

I added a few more words, and to keep with my goal, I’ll post the first short part under lock. That way I won’t feel the need to rework it and edit it and man I am exhausted. I can’t keep me eyes open anymore. It’s 9pm, and this may be the best I can do for tonight. Hopefully this won’t be another 2am night.

Word count: 1,220