Freewriting.

From the moment Rene opened his eyes, he was already too eager it to go back to sleep. Even the crust that always covered his eyes in the morning seemed to slide off of his face and separate the shades from the window enough to display the parallel lines of life squeezing into his equally sleepy room.

This morning wasn't even different, it was routine and repetitive: work, dinner, work, practice; it's just that this morning was supposed to be special, because it was his birthday.

There were 3 messages on his cell phone's answering machine when he woke up. One was from his mother, who he loved more than anyone, and respected, because she'd put up with more than anyone should have when he was younger. He was going to visit her before work, today. The second was from two of his best friends, Dan and Adam. After Rene had left his band's practice space the night before, Dan and Adam stuck around and left Rene a message around 4 am. It was hard to understand, but Rene was pretty sure it was supposed to be a rap version of the traditional birthday song. The third message was from Rene's sister, and there were quite a few text messages to be acknowledged on the way to his mother's house.

Now all he had to do was get out of bed.