I Ask Myself
Six a.m., the alarm clock sounds, an alternative rock song crescendos into a loud annoyance. A young single man named Icarus opens his heavy eyes. "October ninth", Icarus mumbles under his breath. Today is Icarus's birthday. "I get one day a year that is assigned to my name, and I have to work. Someone has to pay the bills though", he says very displeased. Icarus sits up on the side of his bed, and whips his eyes. He gets up off his bed, stands there for a minute and then walks into the bathroom. Icarus ducks his head so that he does not hit it as he steps into the shower. After his shower he continues getting ready for the day. Icarus walks to his closet and opens the door. He grabs a pair of khaki slacks and a black polo. Icarus gets dressed without any thought. It is the same daily routine time after time. He then makes the walk to the kitchen. Once in the kitchen Icarus grabs a skillet and sets it on the stove. Next he opens up his refrigerator which consisted of beer, milk, orange juice, lunch meat, cheese, and eggs. He grabs the carton of eggs and set it on the counter next to the stove. He cracks the eggs and began cooking. Shortly after he starts, his cell phone begins ringing. As he is a self employed, he depends on calls from people in order to make his money. "Hello?" Icarus answers. "Hi, my name is Cindy Anderson", a woman's voice replies. She sounded frantic, as if this was the one hundredth call she had made today. "How may I help you?" he asks the woman. He was curious if she had a serious problem. By the sound of her voice he did not know if she was just dialing a random number in search of help, or if her house was burning down. "Is this Icarus, with McCormic's Computer Repair and More?" the woman asks. "It sure is, is there something I may help you with?" he replies. He let out a sigh of relief at the question. He was no longer responsible for some woman life. "Yes, I believe my computer has a virus. Are you able to remove it?" she asks. "I sure am, you called the right guy," he says. Icarus was curious about why she sounded so frantic over a computer virus. They happen all the time and are no big deal. This is what ninety-five percent of his calls are about. All else set aside he was glad because it is good money and an easy fix. There is not much to the process of removing a virus. "Excellent! When is the soonest that you could be here? I run a business on the side and I depend on my computer to receive payment," she tells Icarus. The woman's voice still sounded very urgent. "Well, I am finishing up at my house now. It is seven now, I could probably leave about eight. Is that okay with you?" Icarus says. Thinking in the back of his head, it's not like it matters anyway I'm not going to leave without eating. "Yes, yes that is fine, but please, hurry. This is a serious portion of my income" the woman nervously says. "Okay, I will leave as soon as I can. Just send your address to my email. Everything will be okay, I will be there as soon as I can", he tells the woman. "I will do that right away," she says to Icarus. "Alright, I will see you in a bit. Goodbye," Icarus tells her and hangs up the phone. As he walks towards the kitchen he begins to smell something burnt. He suddenly remembers about the eggs. He runs the rest of the way and immediately removes the eggs from the burner. The eggs were burnt. Nothing left, but little bricks of charcoal. Next thing he knows, the smoke alarm is going off. Icarus grabs a towel and starts to wave it rapidly in front of the alarm. After minutes of waving it finally stop going off. Icarus cleans the skillet and begins the process again. He dished up the eggs, took it to the table, sat down and began eating. After he finished up he got up took the plate to the sink and rinsed it off. Icarus opened the dish washer, pulled out the bottom drawer, and set his plate and silverware into it. Icarus glance at the clock, it was eight fifteen. He was running behind, what if the woman decides to go with another technician. Icarus began to rush. He went to the front door and picked up a name tag, and keys that were sitting on a coffee table next to it. He opened the front door, locked it, stepped outside, and closed the door. Outside set his prized possession, the one thing that he cared for the most. In his driveway was parked a brand new two thousand eleven Chevy Camero. It was black, with a lime green pin stripe down the sides. It had a hood scoop with an advanced air intake. It sat on twenty-two inch black rims. It also had a lime green body kit and spoiler. It was his baby, his girlfriend, his wife, and his best friend. This car was everything to Icarus. He walked up to the driver side door and unlocked it. He opened the door and got in and sat down on the racing seats that also had a black and lime green color scheme. He put the key in the ignition and started the car. The engine roared, and the green LED gauges lit up. One of those gauges stood out to Icarus. His car was low on fuel. He was going to have to fill up before heading to the woman's house. He was seriously running behind now. He began to get seriously nervous that the woman was going to go with another technician. He pulled out of the driveway and made a trip to the closest gas station. He pulled into the gas station and pulled up to one of the gas pumps. He shut off the car, open the latch to his gas tank and got out. He pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and took out his debit card. Icarus inserted his card into the slot and quickly removed it. The screen on the pump instructed him to re-swipe his card, he did. Again the screen instructed him to re-swipe his card. This went on several more times. Finally he got it and the screen asked him to enter pin or press no. He quickly entered his pin and pressed enter. He mistakenly hit a wrong number. The machine denied the card and read "Please visit a clerk to continue". Icarus ran inside of the gas station and cut off a person that was about to get in line. He waited in line as the four people in front of him where helped. Finally it was his turn. "How may I help you?" the gas station attendant asked Icarus rudely as he noticed he had gotten in front of somebody in line. "The pump told me to come see someone in here. I really need to fill up on gas, and I am really in a hurry," Icarus urgently told the clerk. He noticed the clerk did not care. He was worried if he had just dug his grave. Like when you get pulled over for speeding and you tell the cop you're in a hurry. They will take their sweet time. Icarus seriously hoped the attendant would not do that. "What pump are you on?" the attendant asked Icarus demandingly. The attendant spoke as if Icarus had no right to be there. "Forty dollars on eleven please", Icarus replied to him, and handed his debit card to the man. "Is that going to be debit or credit?" the man asked Icarus. Icarus did not want to run into anymore trouble with his card so he decided to go with credit. "Credit please", Icarus told the man. Icarus slid his card and waited for the screen to say that the card was approved. Once it did, he was out the door and at the pump before the attendant could ask him if he wanted his receipt. Icarus unscrewed his gas cap removed the nozzle from where it was resting and place it in the gas tank. Icarus pulled up the lever and set it so that he did not have to hold it. When finished the lever clicked loudly and stopped fueling. Icarus screwed the cap back on and closed the cover. After hanging up the nozzle he got in his car and started it. "Good, a full tank again", Icarus told himself. Now I can get going. He turned on his global positioning system and entered the woman's address. He left the gas station and got onto the highway. After driving a while he past a sign the read "Welcome to Buena Vista, Colorado", not a very big town Icarus thought. He followed the directions of his global positioning system and soon arrived at his destination. He got out of his car and grabbed his tool box out of the trunk just in case he needed it. He shut the door and trunk and locked his car. He walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell. There was a long pause. He was worried that he might have the wrong address. All he needed was another setback. As he started to turn around and head back to his car he heard the door move. He turned back around. When the door opened Icarus was completely thrown off guard. By the sound of the woman's voice on the phone he was expecting a middle to upper aged woman that would be cranky. Not at all was this true. The woman who opened the door was the most beautiful woman Icarus had ever seen. She had beautiful hazel eyes full of focus and joy. Lost for words, Icarus could not do more than mumble. "Hi, can I help you?" the woman asked Icarus shyly. "Is this Cindy Anderson's residence?" Icarus finally came to sense enough to spit out. He was still dazed with the woman's beauty. The cloudless sky allowed the sun to shine brightly and hit her blond hair shine. "Yes it is. May I ask who you are?" she replied. "Oh! Sorry, how rude of me. I am Icarus, with McCormic's computer repair. I believe you called me this morning about a computer virus", Icarus told the woman. "That's right! I forgot about that. You see I was fiddling with it this morning and figured out my random access memory was full. I just restarted it and fixed the problem. I am sorry. I must have forgotten to call you back," she embarrassedly told Icarus this news. "Oh. Okay, I will be going then. Goodbye," Icarus told the woman. He turned around and began walking to his car. "Wait!" the woman yelled at Icarus. "I am busy right now, but would you like to go get something to eat sometime?" she asked him. Icarus's jaw dropped. He was dumbfounded. In what world did he have a chance with a woman as beautiful as her? Never in his dreams did he ever think he would have a girl, let alone one as beautiful as this. "Of course! I would love to," Icarus finds the words to spit out of his mouth. Icarus could not believe what was happening. This is the greatest day of his life he thought. This is not the girl of his dreams. This is the girl of which his dreams dare not go. "How about tonight?" she asks him. "Definitely!" Icarus quickly responded to her. "Can I pick you up at seven? We can figure out what we are doing then," he says to the woman. "That would be great," she responds to him. Icarus turns back around and gets in his car. He starts it and drives away. Later that night Cindy and Icarus meet up, and have a great time on their date. Two and a half years later the two of them get married and spend the rest of their lives together.

I Ask Myself

Six a.m., the alarm clock sounds, an alternative rock song crescendos into a loud annoyance. A

young single man named Icarus opens his heavy eyes. "October ninth", Icarus mumbles under his

breath. Today is Icarus's birthday. "I get one day a year that is assigned to my name, and I have to work.

Someone has to pay the bills though", he says very displeased. Icarus sits up on the side of his bed, and

whips his eyes. He gets up off his bed, stands there for a minute and then walks into the bathroom.

Icarus ducks his head so that he does not hit it as he steps into the shower. After his shower he

continues getting ready for the day. Icarus walks to his closet and opens the door. He grabs a pair of

khaki slacks and a black polo. Icarus gets dressed without any thought. It is the same daily routine time

after time. He then makes the walk to the kitchen.

Once in the kitchen Icarus grabs a skillet and sets it on the stove. Next he opens up his

refrigerator which consisted of beer, milk, orange juice, lunch meat, cheese, and eggs. He grabs the

carton of eggs and set it on the counter next to the stove. He cracks the eggs and began cooking. Shortly

after he starts, his cell phone begins ringing. As he is a self employed, he depends on calls from people in

order to make his money. "Hello?" Icarus answers.

"Hi, my name is Cindy Anderson", a woman's voice replies. She sounded frantic, as if this was

the one hundredth call she had made today.

"How may I help you?" he asks the woman. He was curious if she had a serious problem. By the

sound of her voice he did not know if she was just dialing a random number in search of help, or if her house was burning down. "Is this Icarus, with McCormic's Computer Repair and More?" the woman asks. "It sure is, is there something I may help you with?" he replies. He let out a sigh of relief at the question. He was no longer responsible for some woman life. "Yes, I believe my computer has a virus. Are you able to remove it?" she asks. "I sure am, you called the right guy," he says. Icarus was curious about why she sounded so frantic over a computer virus. They happen all the time and are no big deal. This is what ninety-five percent of his calls are about. All else set aside he was glad because it is good money and an easy fix. There is not much to the process of removing a virus. "Excellent! When is the soonest that you could be here? I run a business on the side and I depend on my computer to receive payment," she tells Icarus. The woman's voice still sounded very urgent. "Well, I am finishing up at my house now. It is seven now, I could probably leave about eight. Is that okay with you?" Icarus says. Thinking in the back of his head, it's not like it matters anyway I'm not going to leave without eating. "Yes, yes that is fine, but please, hurry. This is a serious portion of my income" the woman nervously says. "Okay, I will leave as soon as I can. Just send your address to my email. Everything will be okay, I will be there as soon as I can", he tells the woman. "I will do that right away," she says to Icarus. "Alright, I will see you in a bit. Goodbye," Icarus tells her and hangs up the phone. As he walks towards the kitchen he begins to smell something burnt. He suddenly remembers about the eggs. He runs the rest of the way and immediately removes the eggs from the burner. The eggs were burnt. Nothing left, but little bricks of charcoal. Next thing he knows, the smoke alarm is going off. Icarus grabs a towel and starts to wave it rapidly in front of the alarm. After minutes of waving it finally stop going off. Icarus cleans the skillet and begins the process again. He dished up the eggs, took it to the table, sat down and began eating. After he finished up he got up took the plate to the sink and rinsed it off. Icarus opened the dish washer, pulled out the bottom drawer, and set his plate and silverware into it. Icarus glance at the clock, it was eight fifteen. He was running behind, what if the woman decides to go with another technician. Icarus began to rush. He went to the front door and picked up a name tag, and keys that were sitting on a coffee table next to it. He opened the front door, locked it, stepped outside, and closed the door. Outside set his prized possession, the one thing that he cared for the most. In his driveway was parked a brand new two thousand eleven Chevy Camero. It was black, with a lime green pin stripe down the sides. It had a hood scoop with an advanced air intake. It sat on twenty-two inch black rims. It also had a lime green body kit and spoiler. It was his baby, his girlfriend, his wife, and his best friend. This car was everything to Icarus. He walked up to the driver side door and unlocked it. He opened the door and got in and sat down on the racing seats that also had a black and lime green color scheme. He put the key in the ignition and started the car. The engine roared, and the green LED gauges lit up. One of those gauges stood out to Icarus. His car was low on fuel. He was going to have to fill up before heading to the woman's house. He was seriously running behind now. He began to get seriously nervous that the woman was going to go with another technician. He pulled out of the driveway and made a trip to the closest gas station. He pulled into the gas station and pulled up to one of the gas pumps. He shut off the car, open the latch to his gas tank and got out. He pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and took out his debit card. Icarus inserted his card into the slot and quickly removed it. The screen on the pump instructed him to re-swipe his card, he did. Again the screen instructed him to re-swipe his card. This went on several more times. Finally he got it and the screen asked him to enter pin or press no. He quickly entered his pin and pressed enter. He mistakenly hit a wrong number. The machine denied the card and read "Please visit a clerk to continue". Icarus ran inside of the gas station and cut off a person that was about to get in line. He waited in line as the four people in front of him where helped. Finally it was his turn. "How may I help you?" the gas station attendant asked Icarus rudely as he noticed he had gotten in front of somebody in line. "The pump told me to come see someone in here. I really need to fill up on gas, and I am really in a hurry," Icarus urgently told the clerk. He noticed the clerk did not care. He was worried if he had just dug his grave. Like when you get pulled over for speeding and you tell the cop you're in a hurry. They will take their sweet time. Icarus seriously hoped the attendant would not do that. "What pump are you on?" the attendant asked Icarus demandingly. The attendant spoke as if Icarus had no right to be there. "Forty dollars on eleven please", Icarus replied to him, and handed his debit card to the man. "Is that going to be debit or credit?" the man asked Icarus. Icarus did not want to run into anymore trouble with his card so he decided to go with credit. "Credit please", Icarus told the man. Icarus slid his card and waited for the screen to say that the card was approved. Once it did, he was out the door and at the pump before the attendant could ask him if he wanted his receipt. Icarus unscrewed his gas cap removed the nozzle from where it was resting and place it in the gas tank. Icarus pulled up the lever and set it so that he did not have to hold it. When finished the lever clicked loudly and stopped fueling. Icarus screwed the cap back on and closed the cover. After hanging up the nozzle he got in his car and started it. "Good, a full tank again", Icarus told himself. Now I can get going. He turned on his global positioning system and entered the woman's address. He left the gas station and got onto the highway. After driving a while he past a sign the read "Welcome to Buena Vista, Colorado", not a very big town Icarus thought. He followed the directions of his global positioning system and soon arrived at his destination. He got out of his car and grabbed his tool box out of the trunk just in case he needed it. He shut the door and trunk and locked his car. He walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell. There was a long pause. He was worried that he might have the wrong address. All he needed was another setback. As he started to turn around and head back to his car he heard the door move. He turned back around. When the door opened Icarus was completely thrown off guard. By the sound of the woman's voice on the phone he was expecting a middle to upper aged woman that would be cranky. Not at all was this true. The woman who opened the door was the most beautiful woman Icarus had ever seen. She had beautiful hazel eyes full of focus and joy. Lost for words, Icarus could not do more than mumble. "Hi, can I help you?" the woman asked Icarus shyly. "Is this Cindy Anderson's residence?" Icarus finally came to sense enough to spit out. He was still dazed with the woman's beauty. The cloudless sky allowed the sun to shine brightly and hit her blond hair shine. "Yes it is. May I ask who you are?" she replied. "Oh! Sorry, how rude of me. I am Icarus, with McCormic's computer repair. I believe you called me this morning about a computer virus", Icarus told the woman. "That's right! I forgot about that. You see I was fiddling with it this morning and figured out my random access memory was full. I just restarted it and fixed the problem. I am sorry. I must have forgotten to call you back," she embarrassedly told Icarus this news. "Oh. Okay, I will be going then. Goodbye," Icarus told the woman. He turned around and began walking to his car. "Wait!" the woman yelled at Icarus. "I am busy right now, but would you like to go get something to eat sometime?" she asked him. Icarus's jaw dropped. He was dumbfounded. In what world did he have a chance with a woman as beautiful as her? Never in his dreams did he ever think he would have a girl, let alone one as beautiful as this. "Of course! I would love to," Icarus finds the words to spit out of his mouth. Icarus could not believe what was happening. This is the greatest day of his life he thought. This is not the girl of his dreams. This is the girl of which his dreams dare not go. "How about tonight?" she asks him. "Definitely!" Icarus quickly responded to her. "Can I pick you up at seven? We can figure out what we are doing then," he says to the woman. "That would be great," she responds to him. Icarus turns back around and gets in his car. He starts it and drives away. Later that night Cindy and Icarus meet up, and have a great time on their date. Two and a half years later the two of them get married and spend the rest of their lives together.