Day Light Raving

Daniel walked home from a long day at school, he was learning geometry and was completely stumped on trigonometry. After hours of homework, he remembered it was daylight savings and moaned “Ugh, I have to fast forward all the clocks by an hour”. After the tedious work of adjusting the clocks, he put his head to his pillow and said to himself, “I wish I was an adult and didn’t have to deal with all this.” As he peacefully closed his eyes, he wished of an escape from his boring life as a kid, but scarily, his wish would be granted. 

Daniel was lurched out of sleep by the loud beeping of his alarm clock. “Huh?” he grunted as he opened his eyes. That was strange, his bed had seemed to shrink. Either that or he grew...a lot. Daniel was filled with sudden excitement as he quickly put his clothes on and ran through the hall, “Mom! Mom! I grew!”. To Daniel’s surprise, there was no reaction. He searched the entire house, but couldn’t find his mother… Strange. The time was 7-45 so he still had a few minutes until he had to leave for school and so he walked into the eerily quiet kitchen and poured himself a bowl of cereal and had no trouble reaching into the high cabinets like he had before. Boy was being tall fun! Halfway through his bowl of cereal, he felt a vibration in his pants and pulled out his phone to find a text from someone named Mr.Lester; It said “Daniel! You’re late for work! Get here right now!” Suddenly, all the pieces fit together. There was a reason why he was suddenly so tall and why his mother was away and why he had gotten this text, he hadn’t just accelerated his alarm clock by an hour, he accelerated it by years! He had gotten what he wished! He quickly got out his phone and texted Mr.Lester. “Excuse me sir but that is the address of the office again?” he typed suspiciously and surprisingly he got quite a straightforward answer. “Umm, 169 Toshiba Road? Just get here quick!”. Daniel raced out of the house and opened the garage to grab his bike but instead was greeted by a large Ford Escape. “Sweet!” He said as he looked around for the keys which he found right on top of a nearby shelf. This was the best day ever! He hopped into the car and started up the engine. He switched the gear to R, race mode, and floored the gas pedal. The car jerked backward and slammed into the wall. Maybe he was wrong about that R stood for and instead selected D and slowly drove out of the garage and onto the street. With no care for road laws or any civility, Daniel once again floored the gas pedal and began swerving down the street towards his new job! It was one of the best experiences ever, cold air rushing into the car as he sped down the streets of New Hampshire, people yelling and honking as he passed. He was going faster and faster as he drew nearer and nearer the office. He went from 40 miles per hour to 50, then 60, then 70. Although the drive was incredibly dangerous, it was exhilarating but very quickly, it turned terrible. Daniel heard a siren behind him and saw a police car tailing him in his rearview mirror. He couldn’t be arrested, he would be in so much trouble and the office was right there! He ignored the voice in his brain telling him to stop but instead went faster and drifted his way into the parking lot, jumped out of the car, and ran into the office. As he opened the door, he was greeted by the noise of fax machines and phone rings. Still, his loud pants attracted the attention of his coworkers who all stared at him as though he was some strange creature. Then, a man emerged out of an office. He looked around 50 and wore tight overalls and buttoned trousers with a name tag that said, Murray Lester.

“Hey, Daniel! Why are you so late?” Mr.Lester said

“Well, um, my alarm clock didn’t work” Daniel wasn’t technically lying but he doubted that Mr.Lester believed it.

Despite being told an obvious lie, Mr.Lester just sighed and pointed towards a cubicle “Just get to work” he said.

Daniel walked towards the cubicle and set himself down. Not knowing, he sat at his desk for what seemed like only a minute when he heard a loud crash as a man yelled to everyone

“ New Hampshire Police! There is an irresponsible driver in this building who has not only broken speed limits but has evaded the police. Everyone stay where you are as the police come and check all of you!” Said the police officer

Daniel knew he was toast and as quickly but quietly as possible ran around to find an exit. Finally, he found an emergency exit and as he stepped out, he heard the officer yell for him to stop. Daniel bolted out the door and around the corner as he quickly flung himself into the nearby dumpster.  The dumpster reeked of trash but Daniel held his breath and prayed that the police wouldn’t discover him. He heard the footsteps of the officer that had attempted to apprehend him walk by and passed a sigh of relief. After a few more minutes, Daniel hauled himself out of the smelly dumpster and, lost, decided to start walking down the street. Suddenly, he wasn’t so happy being an adult. How could this have happened! All he did was fast forward his clock by an hour… That was it! It was the alarm clock. Therefore, to fix this, he needs to rewind the clock by an hour! The plan was genius! Now, all he had to do was to get back to his house. All he needed was money for a taxi and that was it. At that moment, Daniel came up with a genius idea. As the sunset, Daniel walked into a diner. A bell jingled as he entered and he took a seat.

“Hello, what can I get you?” the waiter asked.

“Oh, um, I need to use the washroom first,” Daniel said dismissively as he walked towards the washroom. 

He didn’t really need to use the washroom but he needed a distraction. He walked towards a toilet stall, grabbed the entire roll, and shoved it down one of the toilets, clogging it. He then flushed the toilet and overflowed it. Quickly, he ran out of the washroom and beckoned towards the waiter.

“Someone help! The entire washroom is flooded!” he said urgently.

The waiter looked panicked and ran into the washroom and yelled. At that moment, Daniel ran towards the cash register and grabbed as many bills as possible. He fled out of the store to the yells of other customers and ran through a labyrinth of alleyways until he was convinced nobody would follow him. He quickly beckoned for a taxi, hopped in, and uttered out the address of the house. As he sped into the night, Daniel was filled with relief and was sure nothing else would happen to him. When the taxi ride was over, he tipped the driver generously and hopped out, entering his house. He quickly walked into his room and inspected the clock from a distance, almost scared of it. Suddenly, he heard the door bust open.

“New Hampshire Police” Yelled the police. 

Daniel scrambled to adjust the dial of the alarm clock as his bedroom door burst open. The last thing he saw before adjusting the time was the officer with an outstretched hand, grabbing towards him. He felt as though he was sucked into a vertex as he landed on his bed, confused and dazed. He heard a yell from the kitchen

“Daniel! Why is there an F on your geometry test!” Yelled his mother.

Daniel sighed, being a kid wasn’t perfect but it sure was better than being an adult.