As Tom watched the water boil and the eggs fry, he whistled a little melody from his childhood. He hardly ever whistled. He wasn't very good at it, but he just had to somehow express this euphoria that had suddenly taken hold of him. Scarfing down breakfast whilst pacing around his small one-room apartment, he kept one eye fixed on the tv news. Images of smiling, hand-shaking government officials suggested that some sort of agreement had been reached on some issue, but the news anchor's dry commentary was drowned out by a loud, repeated thudding sound coming from the apartment of his upstairs neighbour. His tv was too small to make out the headlines as well. Not that he really cared. At one point, the noise stopped, long enough for the anchor to tell Tom that "oil prices have been rising", before he was once again interrupted by the noise, now loud enough to slightly shake the entire apartment complex. A little piece of plaster crumbled from the ceiling and landed in his tea. Curious about what his neighbours might be doing to cause such noise at this early hour, Tom decided to pay them a visit. There was still some time before he had to go to work, and who knows? Maybe he could help. He quickly stuffed the last bit of egg into his mouth, turned off the tv, put the dish he used in the sink and left his appartment, still whistling.
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Written by brennholz
30 September 2021