Note: This is part of a larger story.

It’s raining hard outside. Mike is glad that he doesn’t have to go anywhere today. He can always call Robert to come pick him up, but he doesn’t feel like it. He doesn’t want the rain to touch him at all.

He takes his time getting up. He feels like he can sleep for another two or three hours in his dark room, but he’s already slept for more than eight. He’s heard that sleeping too much is for depressed people and he doesn’t like to think that he suffers from depression. Even with all the things that’s happened in the last year.

He makes coffee and microwaves some oatmeal. He adds brown sugar and slices up a banana. He’s getting sick of having banana everyday and tells himself to pick up some other fruit next time. Maybe strawberries.

He takes out his notebook and a pen. As he eats and sips on his coffee, he starts to make a list of things to do for the day. There’s not much to do, but making a list keeps his mind occupied. His old routine would have called for a thorough reading of the day’s top news and articles on The New York Times website, but he no longer has an Internet connection. No television either. Time, he’s learned, is hard to kill without such diversions. He twirls his pen and thinks of things to do for the day.

1) Clean the bathroom

It’s been at least a month since he’s last cleaned the toilet. In the four months he’s lived in his one-bedroom apartment, he’s only cleaned it twice. Pubic hair is everywhere and the rim of the toilet is stained with spots of yellow. Olivia would have prodded him to clean long before. She would have made sure the bathroom was clean. If only she had seen him living like this.

2) Write

He is in the middle of a short story that he wants to finish. It’s about a young butcher who falls in love with a customer. He’s borrowed several books on meat preparation and butchering from the library and found ways to incorporate the art of meat cutting into the story. He feels that a few more days of diligent writing will help him finish his rough draft.

3) Make dinner

He doesn’t want to leave the apartment to get more groceries, so he thinks of things he can make with what he has. For lunch, he’ll make a sandwich with the few slices of turkey that’s still left. He remembers that there is a can of tuna and some pasta. He also has a block of cheese and some milk, enough to make a sauce. With a cup of frozen peas, that will be enough for a decent meal.

He finishes up his oatmeal and coffee. He washes the dishes and heads for the bathroom. Time to clean, he thinks.