The coffee hadn’t kicked in yet
When I hit save and the screen flashed
In that moment, it had all disappeared
It was gone

Through gritted teeth I sucked in a deep breath
Making a loud hissing noise as I did
A warning for my computer
That by the time the breath was done
My screen better be restored

It was not.

I chugged back the rest of the mug
Stood up s….l….o….w…l…y….
Breathing in the hissing breath again
Eyes dropped to the floor past the keyboard
Hands on either side, arms locked

Letting out a guttural arrrrrrgggggghhhhhhh
I made the dog jump and run out of the room
It’s a good thing I’m in a detached home
Although my vocal frustrations still may make the neighbours wonder

Tears streamed down my face
I collapsed to the floor
“This doesn’t happen with handwritten notebooks!!” I whailed…

As the house went up in flames
And took the notebooks with it too

*no dogs were harmed in the writing of this piece*

Written from a prompt in a creative writing group I facilitate. You can check it out and request to join us here: https://m.facebook.com/groups/213087289131266/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBT