How Soon is Now?

Tying up my white shoelaces, I pushed the house door open. It was Friday, my first rest day in two weeks. I finally finished my Computer coding project. It was something I’ve procrastinated endlessly for so many months. I had to put my head down the other week and plow ahead non-stop. I submitted it at 6AM earlier. The professor had set the deadline at 8AM today. I was behind for 3 months on the project but ahead of submission by 2 hours today. There’s some kind of irony in there somewhere.

I didn’t feel the least bit sleepy. Maybe it’s the delicious thrill of finally having my time to spend as I choose. I head to the train platform near our house. I didn’t really know where to go. I just felt the urge to go somewhere, anywhere. My room felt stuffy and constricting having spent the last few weeks buried on the project indoors.

I pulled my cap lower as I slouched on my train seat. The train was barely packed. I sat next to a corporate type of girl wearing a beige suit, a pencil skirt and a tight bun. She was playing some music that escaped from her earphones. It was quiet inside the train. I could hear some striking guitar riffs and vague lyrics.. “ I am the sun, I am the air..”

Intrigued and half liking the sound, I typed the words on my phone to search for the title. But it was the wrong lyrics. It turned out to be, “ I am the son, I am the heir”. I read the Wikipedia page. How Soon Is Now by The Smiths. A 1982 band. Two decades from my birth year. I played the music and realized I liked it a lot. The song fastened itself on my head. “ I am the son, I am the heir of nothing in particular..”

I stepped out of the train and found myself in a neighborhood I don’t exactly seek out and explore. I think people call it a hip area for their fake vintage shops and fake vintage cafes. It would have earned a smirk from Jig, my friend who stores a factory of eyerolls in his system. But all I have now are hours to burn until I feel sleepy.

I stood at the top stairs for a while and looked at the Friday morning traffic. There were few people on the street at past 8. I lazily climbed down the platform steps. Some orange color caught my eye and I looked back and could see some words painted on the back portion of each stair step.

How

Soon

Now

I knit my brows. It was weird to bump into the phrase a second time. I discarded the coincidence and hunted for a cafe to eat some breakfast. I found a tiny one with its front door adorned with wax paper containing the cafe’s name, 8AM. The atmosphere was inviting even if the place only contained 2 long tables and a small one. There was a giant red coffee roasting machine by the left side of the door. The coffee aroma that filled the room sent my senses into overdrive.

Painting my freshly baked waffles with butter, I felt a cozy feeling of peace in my quiet corner of the cafe. An old jazz song was playing in the background and the warm waffles tasted perfect. My iced latte was sitting in front of my plate sweating on its glass.

Suddenly, the silence was broken by a new customer who barged in the door. It caused the door to shudder in the wake of the aggressive push. It was a man in an office suit talking loudly on his phone. Perhaps he believed he was the only one in the cafe. Or he simply didn’t care. He was medium built and had an air of tension about him. He was barking his coffee order and then:

“ How soon?” he impatiently asked the barista.

I couldn’t catch the reply but then the man demanded, “ how soon is now?”

I whipped my head at the words. Third time makes the phrase distinctive enough to warrant my attention.

How soon is now? How soon is now?

The lines reverberate.

I left the cafe and walked aimlessly down the alley.

I walked and walked feeling bothered on some unexplainable level. I suddenly found myself near a gigantic gate. A white banner was spread out over the gate. It displayed an image of a new condo building. Soon to open, it advertised in a large black font. Beneath it, someone had spray painted, how soon is now?

It felt like the words were everywhere. Like a mockery of sorts. I stopped walking to digest all the coincidences. It was almost too persistent and nagging. I hurriedly crossed the street. A feeling of deep upset began to rise in me threatening to steal my peace from earlier. How soon is now??

I couldn’t help feeling that I’m missing something from the equation. Is it supposed to make sense? How soon is now? I wasn’t waiting for anything or expecting something. I began to look at the things around me with suspicion. I could feel a stranger looking at me oddly. I walked quicker as if the words would jump out at me anytime.

Just then a loud ringing hit my ears. I cracked open my bleary eyes and I started, realizing I was in my room. I felt the definitive muscle cramps on my shoulders. The kind of physical pain after staying in one fixed position for too long. It was a phone call from Jig shaking me awake. I punched the answer button.

“ Did you finish?”

I had a sudden sinking feeling as my gaze landed squarely on the wall clock. It was 8AM and I had just woken up. My laptop screen had slept and I hit the trackpad. I wasn’t done yet.