The Doctor Who Forgot Her Pants

Another morning of rushing to work, Andy only had 20 minutes to hurriedly shower and get dressed. Instead, she walked sluggishly to the kitchen, still in a T-shirt and underwear, turned on the kettle for a cup of tea and toasted two slices of bread to spread with Jam.

She sat at the table scrolling through twitter mindlessly nibbling at her toast and jam and burning her tongue on the hot cup of mint tea. She had 10 minutes now until work started. With a sigh, she dragged her feet and went under the cold water in the shower… 5 minutes left now. She dried slowly with a large towel, pulling on her clothes. Drying her toes she saw 8 am flash against her phone- she was officially late.

Andy grabbed her bags and rushed to her car, speeding out of the house and into light traffic. She looked at her phone and contemplated if she should call in and say she’ll be late. She decided not to and turned the volume of the radio up. Driving robotically to a place where she went almost everyday and spent most of her time. She didn’t notice what song was on the radio, or how the sky looked. She found herself driving through the large gate of her work place, everywhere covered in grey tones. Her usual parking spot was unavailable, where would she find parking now that it was forty minutes after eight? She drove to the end of the hospital, seeing an empty spot peak out of a sea of cars.

Finally.

Andy reversed into the parking spot and put her car in park. She looked out the windscreen and saw the array of cars lined haphazardly in the parking lot. The trees looked dull green, the colours of the cars all melted together and the buildings looked farther away than they actually were.

Andy turned off the ignition, took up her handbag and lunch kit ready to exit her vehicle and start her day. Pulling the door, the thick heat slapped her face. Andy rolled her eyes at the thought of another monotonous day of doing not much anything.

She remembered her hopes of saving lives, making changes in people’s lives and making an impact. Instead, Andy felt like a hollow shell of her former self, doing things more by rote. Andy felt trapped.

Then, she realised she forgot to put on her pants.

Samantha C. Johnson