Waking up early was something Ma Chao did often, no matter what the day, nor how little he slept. It was an ingrained habit from the days back at the ranch, where a sense of responsibility was necessary, especially when it came to horses. But he was used to the sun light greeting him in the mornings and the sounds of his mother bustling in the kitchen, so when the piercing wail of the alarm sounded, a similarly pitched scream followed shortly after.
He fumbled with the device, desperately attempting to silence it while struggling with the sheets tangled about his legs. After a few moments of futile searching and pressing every conceivable bump, he threw the thing in a fit of rage, causing it to smash against the wall that separated his room from his cousin’s, and cut the wailing short. Short of breath and heart beating wildly, Chao briefly considered murdering Dai.
”’Oh, this is a nice alarm, cousin! It’ll wake you up without problems!’ AND GIVING ME A HEART ATTACK ISN’T A PROBLEM!?” He roared at the air with a headache building, knowing his cousin could hear him at this point. The walls were very thin, after all. He moved to make his way to the bathroom, but had forgotten the sheets that had a vice grip around his legs.
Ma Chao, meet the floor. Floor, meet Ma Chao’s face.
The loud thud did nothing to help his headache, and the impact certainly didn’t either. He groaned, all the rage slipping out of him to be replaced by fatigue. He lay there listlessly for a few moments before untangling himself from the covers. Standing up, he noticed just how large a mess destroying that alarm made, and groaned. God damned machines.
He trudged to the bathroom, snapping an insult as he passed Dai’s room, and began to ready himself for the day, soliloquizing all the while.
‘No worries, Father! I’ll be perfectly fine! I’m living with Dai after all, we’ll be safe! We’re almost adults anyway, what’s the worst that can happen?’ Damn it all, what was I thinking? A school out in the middle of a city I only visited once, because of what? Certainly not for the fun of it. The next time I get the bright idea to leave home, someone needs to shoot me.
“…Why am I here and not on my horse?” He asked himself as he shut the bathroom door.
