"Come on dozy, move along!". It was the tap with the truncheon that broke into Larry’s daydreaming more than the call. He looked up and realised with a start that the queue for the next hovertrain had moved forward 2 metres without him noticing. He glanced behind him as he shuffled forward and saw the faces in the queue more dissatisfied than normal. The transit cop looked intimidating in his body armour and helmet but behind the visor Larry saw he was smiling.
Would you call it daydreaming? Larry wasn’t sure. Over the last few days he could feel himself spiralling down into the depths again. The tablets didn’t seem to help any more, either that or he was getting worse. Those familiar feelings of helplessness and despair that would wash over him and everything would assume an air of futility. What was the point in going to work like this everyday? Was it just the job or something more deep seated?
The job. When he had fallen into the role of network analyst, he and his wife had thought that all their worries were over, but ten years later he wasn’t so sure. Ten years of drudgery and unbelievable boredom.
He got another push in the back from the woman behind and realised he’d held up the queue again. Set into the wall next to him was a closed door recessed into the wall. At least it would give him a minute to gather his thoughts. And there was nowhere else to go as the exit for the hovertrains was on the other side.
He pulled out of the queue and moved into the recess.
His space in the queue was filled instantly as he leant his head against the cool brickwork and sighed. He’d have to join the end of the queue again but that seemed irrelevant. Just a moments respite seemed all that mattered.
He’d be late for work again. Would anyone notice, other than the paymaster checking logons at the end of the week? Probably not. And even if they did notice, would they care? Probably not.
He stared absently at the queue as it shuffled forward onto the incoming H-trains. Even with one a minute these days it still wasn’t fast enough to transport the population from home to work and back again on time. And if anything went wrong...
Would you call it daydreaming? Larry wasn’t sure. Over the last few days he could feel himself spiralling down into the depths again. The tablets didn’t seem to help any more, either that or he was getting worse. Those familiar feelings of helplessness and despair that would wash over him and everything would assume an air of futility. What was the point in going to work like this everyday? Was it just the job or something more deep seated?
The job. When he had fallen into the role of network analyst, he and his wife had thought that all their worries were over, but ten years later he wasn’t so sure. Ten years of drudgery and unbelievable boredom.
He got another push in the back from the woman behind and realised he’d held up the queue again. Set into the wall next to him was a closed door recessed into the wall. At least it would give him a minute to gather his thoughts. And there was nowhere else to go as the exit for the hovertrains was on the other side.
He pulled out of the queue and moved into the recess.
His space in the queue was filled instantly as he leant his head against the cool brickwork and sighed. He’d have to join the end of the queue again but that seemed irrelevant. Just a moments respite seemed all that mattered.
He’d be late for work again. Would anyone notice, other than the paymaster checking logons at the end of the week? Probably not. And even if they did notice, would they care? Probably not.
He stared absently at the queue as it shuffled forward onto the incoming H-trains. Even with one a minute these days it still wasn’t fast enough to transport the population from home to work and back again on time. And if anything went wrong...
