10 AM Deadline

Sitting with a computer open is the ultimate indicator that one is working. In the digital age, one can live their entire life on a small box with a screen and some keys. One can make a living, get entertainment, stay connected. You name it. It's hard to pull yourself away. Today, Yana was working on a blog for the hostel she worked and lived at. It wasn't always the most invigorating work, dealing with the wi-fi speeds temperamental consistency, but she knew she would get the work done in the allotted time. The post needed to be live at 10am, it was 8:30am, she had plenty of time.

"Yana? Hey! Whatcha doing?" came a voice from over the porch. It was the hostel manager Mark. He was smiling and getting ready to light his 4th cigarette of the day. He had a sleepy smile still on his eyes.

"Just finishing this blog post," Yana responded.

"Oh yeah, don't let me distract you!" Mark said hastily. He stayed quietly smoking there for a minute.

"Hey what are you doing Tuesday?" he asked.

"I have no idea," Yana said.

"We should go thrift shopping."

"Yeah, yeah, sounds good." Now Yana was a bit peeved. Not only was he distracting her, but he was asking her for something. She had the car, he wanted a ride. She put her head back down to the screen.

"Okay, well just let me know if you're free."

"Will do."

Mark walked away and Yana set back to her task. He had wasted a full 30 minutes doing absolutely nothing but taking up time and space. That was an aspect of the hostel lifestyle that made things difficult, there were always people around, and they always wanted to chat.

Two yoga ladies came out of the garden after finishing their class.

"Hey Yana!" they exclaimed, all euphoria after a good stretch.

They settled into chairs beside her.

"Oh no," thought Yana, but instead she said, "Hey..."

"So we remembered it's your birthday tomorrow. What do you want to do?" one of them said.

"Oh jeez, I have no idea. I don't really care about birthdays."

"Oh come on!" said the sweet-faced one.

"Fine um, I don't care. Just something chill."

"Wine on the terrace sound good?"

"Yes, that's perfect." Happy to have a quick solution. The clock now read 9:15.

"Perfect, well we will leave you to it."

"See you." Back into the article, what was she saying? It was hard to keep the flow of the article with all the various people coming in and out, disturbing her with real life.

A Brazilian handyman that spoke no English walked by growling huffily about the dumpster. It had clearly been ransacked by homeless people and he was pissed. He yelled in Portuguese that something needed to be done. Looking at Yana occasionally for a relatable connection; she provided some smiles and nods. As he disappeared a herd of homeless people walked by with their carts and their possie of dogs. One man was yelling at Sandy, the dog walking beside him abusively.

"Keep that up and I'll beat the shit out of you!"

Yana couldn't help looking up from her work. She liked dogs more than people, so if that man so much as swatted at Sandy, Yana was gonna have something to say about it. They trundled on their way, however, leaving Sandy untouched.

Reading through the blog post now, Yana saw nothing good about it. She could not stay objective with her work. It conveyed the message she guessed and had some of her personal styles. Without another moment of overthinking, Yana clicked the Publish button. It was done.

She looked up for someone to tell. There was no one around.

"Figures." Yana thought to herself as she closed her computer with a satisfying click, gathered her stuff up and walked off the porch to start her day.