Day Two of Writing Retreat

It wasn’t until I closed my eyes that I saw the problem. I’ll remember in the morning, I told myself. I repeated the solution over and over in my mind. I finally threw back the covers and fumbled for the light. There, I thought, as I put the pen down.

Back in bed, the title of the new chapter came to me. I’ll remember, I thought. Yep, you guessed it. I stumbled from bed, wrote down the title, and crawled back. I wasn’t feeling well and besides I had bigger problems. For one thing, I was out of chocolate and down a half bottle of wine. Not to worry, I have lots of green tea and baby carrots. Okay, I’m not short of food but the good stuff is in short supply. Or gone.

That’s not all. The scratchy throat that I’ve mostly ignored for the past few days has been getting worse. This morning I feel like crap. My throat, my sinuses, my head. Oh no, this can’t be happening. I have a deadline here.

Then I did it. Something I try to avoid at all costs. I took a cold pill. Then I drank two mugs of hot water and lemon. Toasted a bagel and made a strong cup of coffee. I’m going to be fine, I told myself. And promptly curled up on the bed and fell asleep. You see, that’s the way cold pills affect me.

I only slept for an hour but felt a little groggy when I woke. That’s when I leaped to my feet. This cold is not going to slow me down. I turned on the shower as hot as I could stand it. If the smell of sulphur water doesn’t kill me, it just might cure me. A woman on a mission, I scrubbed until my skin was pink and my hair was squeaky. I’m in control, not this nasty cold.

Rather than letting my hair air dry, I reached for the hairdryer. Bloody thing must be on a timer. Every couple of minutes it shut down. That wasn’t going to stop me. I slathered myself in scented body lotion and put on a complete set of new clothes. There’d be no slouching braless in a sweatshirt for me today. Every few minutes I’d grab the hairdryer for another two minutes of fluffing.

That wasn’t enough. I opened up my suitcase again. I know I packed it. There it was. A small green case. Lipstick, mascara, face cream. The works. I preened in front of the mirror. Look good—Feel good. Right? That is what they say.

I flung open two windows on the sunny side and turned up the heat. Still too cold to sit outside but at least it’s sunny and the air is fresh.

I have to admit that I feel pretty good right now. Half the morning is gone and I haven’t been too productive on editing my book, BUT it’s going to get better. I can feel it every time I blow my nose and clear my throat. Hallelujah! I’m feelin’ good.