Microsoft Nightmare

“Microsoft Word has stopped working.”

Letti read the notification over and over again until the alarm she set on her phone went off at 4:25 a.m. It was time to take a break, but all she could do was stare at the screen of her laptop like she had been for the past 15 minutes. She took her coffee mug to her lips and realized that it was empty, so she focused her attention on the two options her device offered her:

“Check online for a solution and close the program.”

“Close the program.”

Thank you so much, Bill Gates! Why wasn’t there an option that did not involve closing the program and losing all of her work? Maybe if she pressed any button, nothing bad would happen. Maybe her essay was automatically saved, at least most of it. But what if it wasn’t? She had spent all night writing about populism in Europe and Latin America. Why the heck did she even enroll in that course? Comparative Politics doesn’t have anything to do with her major. She studied Psychology, not Political Science nor Law. But of course Letti had to choose an elective from another field so she could “learn something different”. Worst. Decision. Ever.

She tried to remain calm, but her leg kept shaking and suddenly she felt the itch. That damn itch in her neck didn’t exist until she was in college. It appeared every time she felt anxious. She opened the window and went to the room next to hers.

“Savannah,” she whispered. “Savannah, wake up.”

Her little sister was four years younger, but Savannah always helped Letti when she was in trouble. The 16 year old redhead was sleeping on her stomach and the side of her face was covered by some loose curls. Letti poked her three times and Savannah mumbled something she couldn’t understand.

“Savannah, please, this is a crisis,” she cried

“What do you want?”

“I need your help, please.”

Savannah got up from bed and with heavy steps followed her sister to her room. When she saw the screen she laughed, but she was a little mad. She couldn’t believe her sister. This is why she woke her up at almost 5 a.m. on a school night? 

“Just press ‘Close the program’ and it will open again later. I can’t believe this is your emergency.”

“I can’t. I’ve been writing this freaking essay all night and it’s due at 6 p.m. I can’t lose everything!”

“Didn’t you save it?”

“I only had a few lines from the other day. I did all the work tonight and haven’t finished it yet, so no.”

If she knew her laptop had a vendetta against her, she would have clicked on ‘Save’ every time she wrote a word.

“Well, your only option is to press the button and hope for the best.”

“There’s nothing else I can do? Please, Savannah, there has to be a way.”

The only response her sister gave her was a sympathetic smile. 

“Oh my Gosh! I’m going to fail this class. I think I’m going to throw up.”

Savannah went out of the room and returned three minutes later with a glass of water. She knew college had been really stressful for her sister and she barely had time to breath. They used to do a lot of things together, but now Letti spent most of her time studying, writing essays and on her part-time job. It was like they didn’t even live together anymore.

“I don’t know why I took this course. I should have gone with Criminal Behaviour. Like, what the heck do I care about Political Science? And the professor is such a nightmare! I bet nobody in my classroom knows what he’s talking about. His voice can literally put anyone to sleep. Every time I see him I simply think of sweet sweet death. Like, if I wanted to torture someone, I would just make them listen to Mr. Ross for more than one hour. Without breaks.”

“Sounds exaggerated, but ok.”

“When I imagine hell, he’s there.” Letti looked at the screen again. “I just want to watch Leap Year while eating pizza and then die peacefully.”

Savannah looked at the time on her sister’s phone.

“Okay, Letti, it is 5:07 and I really miss my bed. Just press the button and take me out of my misery. Your essay is probably like you left it.”

Letti didn’t want to press the button. She knew she could have done that one hour ago, but she was too scared. She still is. She’s aware that what is happening is dumb. Her essay was probably saved. It is not like this hasn’t happened to her before. Damn you, Microsoft.

But what if it wasn't? What if this time the universe decided to go against her and delete everything she wrote. She didn’t want to spend more hours on this. She hated that class. She hated Mr. Ross. And she hated the truth.

“It was because of a boy”, her sister looked at her confused. “I like this guy and he studies Law. He told me he wanted to take this class and said we should do it together.”

“You will be in debt for at least ten years to pay for college and you’re using it like it’s Tinder?”

Letti’s pillow hit Savannah in the face and the two sisters started to laugh. At that moment, both of them were glad they had each other. Letti took her laptop from the desk and sat on her bed. She moved the mouse cursor and left it on the button that said “Close the program”. She held her breath and looked at her sister. Savannah gave her a smile and Letti pressed the button.

After a few minutes, Letti still hadn’t move and her sister grabbed the laptop from her to open Word again.

“I’m going to kill you.”

“What?” Letti came to her senses and saw her sister laughing in front of her.

“Letti, you had the AutoSave activated! Ugh, I wish I could get mad at you. I love you, but you’re kinda the dumbest person I know. Which is weird because you’re also the smartest.”

“I love you too.”

Letti looked at her file. It had 6,537 words of the 7,000 minimum she was supposed to write. She wanted to sleep, but she knew the best thing to do was to finish the essay and send it before thinking about counting sheeps. She went to the kitchen to make herself another cup of coffee and returned to her room. Her sister was still there and she felt relieved knowing she would not be alone.

“I feel like I’m going to explode. I will never force myself to do something I don’t like again, let alone for a boy. I’ll just stay happy and single in my comfort zone."

“I told you you could be your own therapist.”