Stillness suffocated all around, dredging the life from the air.  Even as the sun rose, the yellow streaks of light failed to break through the overcast sky to caress the earth below.  Birds stayed in the trees, and the dogs slept in.  Staring out the window, Elise wanted to be able to feel the air swirling around her, knowing that it never would.

Sitting alone in the corner cubicle, she overheard the faint hum of a vacuum cleaner, yet another device sucking her life away.  Watching, willing the clouds to move, she became at one with the sky, dark, sullen and restless.

Bing bing bong.  The sound of another email launching into her inbox woke her from her dream.  She saw red flags, the only splash of colour in the dankness of so-called daylight.  Disgust rose like bile from her innards, she forced herself back in control.

Down the hall came murmurs of co-workers rustling wet umbrellas, talking mindlessly about the weather.  Faced with another day of dying slowly behind the screen, being hidden from view by selfish desires, and longing to be anywhere but here, she stood.

Walking towards the elevators, Elise felt nervous, yet elated.
“Elise… have you…” a co-worker addressed her as she sped towards the doors.
“No, Kevin.  I haven’t,” in her head she added a quick, ‘screw you.’

As the doors closed on the elevator, she smiled.  Beyond all of this was something.  She didn’t know what it was, and she was quite happy about it.  Riding downwards towards the ground floor, she closed her eyes, and hoped for a more colourful tomorrow.