Rushing to His End

6:30 am.

With the loud warning of alarm came Jason springing out of his bed. His left arm stopped the alarm to his left whilst he was mid-air, and he landed on his feet on the rightside of the bed facing the bathroom, which he charged into immediately while taking off his pyjamas.

When Jason reached the bathroom he was fully naked. Inside he initiated his usual morning routines: showering, brushing his teeth, cleaning his face... He executed every step with millimetre and millisecond accuracy. Jason let his sentient muscles do its work, during which he sent his eyes across to the ipad in front the mirror which he automated to push news at this time every morning.

6:34 am.

During the race downstairs Jason grabbed his pile of work clothes, his phone, and other essentials. When he reached the last flight of stairs down he was fully dressed. He began to eat his breakfast, which he has automated as well to be ready to be served at 6:34 am every morning. His mouth mechanically accepted and processed all food sent by his hand, while his eyes admired himself on the opposite wall— a wall plastered with prizes: there are 20 "employee of the month" awards (the most recent), around 10 awards for his outstanding academic achievements before he went into work, half a dozen trophies from various sports competitions, another dozen awards from other competitions he has entered, and a dozen other certificates proving what he is capable of. All of those are stuck on the wall by hotglue for anyone to see. As an extra layer of security, they are bound and defended by a huge bullet-proof glass case, the best lock on the market, and his constant efforts to fortify them.

At the time that Jason swallowed the last piece of his meal, his phone vibrated to remind him that it is time to go to his car. Jason took a stop by the wall, as always, and admired his awards. The wall is full of those awards, to the extent that anyone approaching it will not be able to see the wall, but all of the awards that cover up the wall. Jason saw that the wall holds an unnatural tilt towards him, and considered taking off some awards to relieve its stress. As he reached for the lock a sudden sense of dread compelled him out of his action, and he continued towards the garage instead.

6:38 am.

In Jason's garage is his childhood dream that costs more than a hundred thousand, which ceased to be his dream as he meets it every morning. Only something to keep, as it is still others' dreams. Jason climbed in and twisted his car key into the key hole impatiently, and the speakers came alive amongst the sound of the engine. The podcast, as programmed, started to play its newest episode.

"Hello my wonderful listeners! Welcome back to THE morning podcast."

It is Jason's favorite podcast, because the podcaster is full of rubbish and doesn't know what they are talking about. The ridiculous content amuses Jason very much.

"Today I am going to discuss the importance of taking your time in life and slowing down. Is everybody with me? I know you are!"

Jason chuckled. As the garage door closed behind him he slammed his foot into the gas pedal. The car sped up immediately, throwing everything behind. It aims only for its destination, Jason's workplace, in the shortest time possible.

"So many people only care about getting ahead. They dash their way through life, searching for the next thing that gains them more prestige, money, status. They achieve for the sake of achieving and not failing. They forget who they are, and what they want. Only seeing the next carrot on the stick."

There are several smaller prizes in Jason's car, placed at the most visible spots to the driver. The sun has not fully risen yet, and the dawn casts a dark and blurry filter over the awards, making many of them illegible. There are around a dozen of them glued to the dashboard, and some more glued to the visor.

As the many smaller cars appeared ahead of Jason's advance he arranged an efficient maneuver to overtake all of them. He overtook tens of them, then took a right turn into the road his company is on. At this moment, the first ray of sunlight reached Jason's car and repelled the dark filter that previously enshrouded the prizes.

"Instead of mindlessly going for the next thing, we should all learn to take a second once in a while to reflect on our life. Is this what you want? Are you happy?"

There are no vehicles in front of Jason. The awards under the gold radiating sunlight spelled out WINNER. He could see the entrance to his company 200 metres away. 50 metres in front of Jason the green traffic light at the intersection turned amber, and he removed his foot from the gas pedal and turned it towards the brake. The clouds seem to move with his foot to cover the sun, and the ray of light disappeared. The shroud returned to his awards, and besides it the car clock blinked and beeped.

6:42 am.

"What is it that you fear in settling down? Why don't we all just take some time off and live in the present? Is the glamour worth the hassle?"

Jason honked his car horn. All of his awards seemed alien to him. He pointed his foot back towards the gas pedal and pressed down firmly.

The car shot out like a bullet. His foot stayed firmly on the gas pedal while his eyes fixated on the road in front of him. The loud beeps of his car clock orchestrated with the engine for everything that was blurry without. He didn't feel faster and remember more in his entire life than that one second, the next second, and the last place he could remember was this intersection. The last sound he heard was a car horn. The last image he saw was the truck to his right, and the crimson traffic light.

"What's the rush, anyways?"