Distractions

Today was the day. The day she was going to overcome writer's block. She had been neglecting her blog, depriving her readers of the joy of reading her literary masterpieces for a month, but she decided today would end the suspense.

Unfortunately, writing and publishing once a month seemed to be a trend she was setting. This certainly was never her intention but life gets demanding, especially for a wife and mother of two. Three, if you count the dog.

Robin glanced at the clock as she picked up her pen. Three thirty. Perfect! She wouldn't have to start preparing dinner until five, giving her plenty of time to at least complete a rough draft.

She touched the pen to the page but before she could make a stroke, there was a knock at the door. She sighed, put the pen down, and got up to reveal the mystery of the knocker. Although it wasn't actually a mystery. She knew the only logical conclusion would be that one of her girls were knocking, but she had assumed they would be able to entertain themselves for an hour or two.

She opened the door to find both of her girls standing there.

"Mommy, we're hungry!" Eight-year-old Gloria announced with a slight bounce.

Robin frowned. "But I just gave you a snack." She reminded them.

Gloria looked up to her ten-year-old sister, Faith, then both girls shrugged.

"We forgot." Faith explained before scampering off to the living room with Gloria.

Robin chuckled at their silliness as she closed the door and returned to her desk, ready to pick up where she left off.

After a sip of coffee.

Ring! She answered her phone without taking notice of the number calling. Big mistake.

"Hello, Mrs. Peterson?" The telemarketer on the other line began, "Do you have a couple minutes to spare to take a quick survey?"

"What kind of survey?" Robin inquired. Why did she just ask that? She didn't have time or interest to participate in a random survey.

"We're an up and coming yogurt company conducting research to gather information on people's yogurt preferences." The telemarketer explained. "Your opinion will help us immensely."

"I'm sorry but I really don't have time." Robin informed her.

"Great!" The telemarketer, not seeming to have paid attention to her answer, cheerfully replied. "On a scale from one to ten-"

Robin ended the strange phone call. How did they get her name and number anyway? Maybe she should look into getting on the National Do Not Call Registry. She clicked on the Google search bar and began typing before suddenly remembering her previous mission. The Google search could wait.

She turned off her phone and picked up her pen again. She pressed it to her lips and looked out the nearby window.

She knew what she wanted to write but how should she put it into words?

The view outside sure was pretty. The autumn leaves were in color and it was soothing to watch them fall like snow.

"Focus, Robin, focus!" She scolded herself, snapping back to attention. Yes, she now felt ready to get started.

After another sip of coffee.

Another knock at the door sounded.

"Come in." Robin said.

As soon as the door was even remotely open, a very muddy four-legged creature burst through and galloped laps around the room.

"Skittles!" Robin shrieked but the labradoodle paid no mind.

"We tried to go outside but Skittles got in and now we can't get her back out." Faith explained with concern.

Robin caught hold of the pup's collar and directed the dog through the living room and out the back door. She looked about her and took in the sight of thousands of muddied paw prints dancing on her hardwood floor.

Would this be the end to her writing endeavor? Certainly not! The furniture remained spotless, much to her delight. Surely the floors could wait to be cleaned until after dinner. It wasn't carpet, after all. Her husband would understand.

Probably.

"Can we watch a movie?" Gloria asked.

"Sure, honey." Robin agreed. "Faith, you remember how to set it up, right?"

Faith nodded so Robin started back to her office.

Then the doorbell rang.

Robin suppressed a colossal urge to groan as she walked over to answer it but she carefully peered through the peep hole before doing so to make sure it wasn't her neighbor, Sheila. That woman could talk!

The visitor wasn't Sheila. It was a postal worker with a package for her to sign for. After doing so, she placed the package on the kitchen counter and returned to the office but before she could grab the pen, the phone rang.

It was Sheila! Robin hastily declined the call. Bullet successfully dodged. Now, back to writing.

The phone rang again, and again, and again. No matter how many times she was declined, Sheila called back! Robin powered down the phone. Desperate times called for desperate measures and at this point, she was desperate to write at least one word! Was that too much to ask?

Apparently so because her computer began singing. Sheila was FaceTiming her! Could she seriously not take a hint?!

She felt her stress level rise as the sound of persistent barking entered the mix. She rose and looked out the window to see Skittles barking and hopping around, harassing a squirrel in a tree.

"Skittles! Stop that!" Robin pleaded and banged on the window to no avail.

Then there was another knock at the door.

"If it doesn't involve fire, blood, or broken bones, I'm not interested!" Robin snapped.

The door opened and her husband poked his head in.

"Hey hon," he said, "is dinner ready?"

Robin frantically glanced at the clock. Five thirty?! Where did the time go?

"I'm sorry, love, I completely lost track of time." She explained. "I'll get started."

"Are you sure?" He asked. "Let me take care of it, you look busy."

"No, it's okay." Robin insisted. "I got it."

Today was going to be the day... Now it seems that day will have to be tomorrow.