11:50 PM. Wednesday, February 26th. I rolled my eyes. She was at it again: hands clasped, eyes closed, and kneeling. Gods, she never tired of it. What was the damn point of a God you’d never meet? Stubby fingers struggled to crack open another pistachio and struggle they did. This was the seventh one that’d found itself on the carpet instead of in my mouth. She cracked her eyes open just long enough to glare. I kicked the seed aside and fumbled the bag for another one. If I knew better, I’d have exercised a bit more. Stubby fingers were such a pain. I stared at her hands clasped together. Fingers so thin. So good for opening pistachios.

11:57 PM. I ignored my suit and briefcase in the corner of my eye and opened another beer. She gave me a dirty eye, as if daring me to drink another. I chugged the damn thing and found myself retching onto the purple carpet with her cursing in the background. This time it was a new one. I couldn't help but appreciate her creativity.

11:59 PM. Just a minute left. I closed my eyes and let the final few seconds pass. It was easier this way: less of a disjunct in consciousness. Then again, being tipsy always helped. The seconds ticked by and I heard her sobbing cut off.

I dreamed of our boy Randall in Switzerland again. He missed the flight to Denmark, and this time he was complaining about how long the wait until the next flight was going to take. He said he’d stop by to meet us on his trip back. Drop off a few souvenirs and say hi to the turtle. I apologized for throwing the turtle out the window. He looked kind of confused, but said it was ok. He never liked that smug bastard’s face anyways.

I woke up exactly one minute and thirty two seconds before the alarm went off. I nudged her, but as usual she wouldn’t wake until the alarm rang. Nevertheless, I nudged and I nudged. I dreaded and I sobbed. Yet again, the alarm turned on, and the briefing began.

“Wednesday, February 26th. High of 86. Low of 62. The DOW is down by 26. The S&P 500 is up by 5. Bixpy news: 600 missing after a plane towards Denmark...”