Some days "pretty" is all you have

I woke up with a niggling feeling of dissatisfaction and ennui.

My alarm didn't go off. I stubbed my toe on the corner of my bed. And I had to find different shoes to wear because my throbbing toe wouldn't fit into the ones I had planned to wear.

On the freeway I was behind a blockade of idiots and all that was playing on the radio was Nickleback, Nirvana or Miley Cyrus.

When I was almost at my exit I realized that I left my jump drive at home and had to turn around and go back to get it.

My gas light had come on the night before and it nearly blinded me with its glare as I raced home to retrieve said jump drive.

I finally got to my borrowed desk and sat back to catch my breath and take a swig of water. It missed my mouth and dribbled down my neck, chest, stomach.

A few minutes later I basically stabbed myself with my pen as I edited a document and left an indignant ink mark on my right breast.

I threw my pen down on my desk and stomped down the hall toward the bathroom to assess the double-whammy damage of my drinking problem and attempted stabbing by writing instrument.

On my way back (after limited damage control) I heard something completely unexpected:

"You look pretty today."

Four words.

Four words that stopped me in my tracks. Made me smile. Helped me catch my breath.

I sat back down at my desk and started fiddling with one of my bracelets. It instantly burst into an inconcievable number of tiny beads and baubles--sprayed all over my work area.

I tossed my head back and let out a laugh that may have been a symptom of dementia