I arrived at the Banana store at ten o’clock pm, ready to camp out for the new ePhone 12. Nobody was there. At first I was glad; this meant I was the first person in line, and I would be the first person in the entire city to own the new phone. But then hours went by, the night grew colder and I was still the only one there.
     That morning, I had called in sick and reported that I planned to take the next two days off from work. I told them I had a stomach virus, but really I was just lovesick for the ePhone 12. It had everything I had ever wanted; the fastest internet speeds, HD resolution, an indestructible screen, and best of all, teleportation. With this new feature, I wouldn’t need a car. I wouldn’t need plane tickets. I wouldn’t even need the time it took to travel. Now I could spend my leisure hours at a beach in Costa Rica instead of watching “Game of Thrones” at my desk. I simply couldn’t wait; I needed an ePhone 12 as soon as possible. So I set out to the streets, determined to wait outside the Banana store until they opened at eight a.m.
     I guess I looked sort of homeless. All I had with me was a bag full of food, which would probably not be enough to sustain my hunger for ten hours, and a sleeping bag, which was barely warm enough to keep me from getting hypothermia. So when I saw people trying to contain their laughter as they walked by me, I wasn’t entirely surprised. Most of them pretended not to notice me, which I was sort of grateful for. I even recognised a few of them. One of them was my boss, who merely looked at me with a face full of confusion. I should have been worried about him seeing me, but I wasn't. By the time I had to deal with the consequences, I wouldn’t care; I would have an ePhone 12, and my life would be complete.
     By the time midnight arrived not only was I freezing cold, but I was starving. I had devoured all of my food in the first couple of hours, which was probably not a good idea. Knowing that I should try to sleep, I pushed my afflictions aside and tried to make the best out of my useless sleeping bag, setting the alarm on my watch for eight o’clock.
     Eventually I awoke to the sound of my watch beeping. I quickly got to my feet, only to find that I was still alone except for one person. A Banana employee was unlocking the front door. As soon as she got inside, I eagerly followed and called after her.
     Hearing my voice, she turned around and politely replied, “What can I help you with?”
     I approached her eagerly. “I’m here to get an ePhone 12.”
     “Oh, I’m sorry sir! You must have the date wrong. Today is the fourteenth.”
     I hesitated, starting to second-guess myself. “I thought I saw on the website that the ePhone 12 comes out on the fourteenth?”
     “The final details about the device will be announced today. The phone doesn’t actually come out until next week.”
     These words felt like a punch in the gut. “You’re joking… You are joking, aren’t you?”
     She could hear the devastation in my voice. “I’m sorry sir,” she said, pointing to a poster on the wall. “There’s nothing I can do.”
     My eyes darted to the poster as she walked to the back of the store. Underneath a giant picture of the new ePhone were the words, “Coming September 21.”
     I stood there stiff and speechless for a minute as other employees began to arrive. It only took a few seconds for everything to sink in. The phone wasn’t out yet. All the waiting had been for nothing. The stares of the employees around me reminded me of what I had been through all night. For ten hours I laid there, shivering, hungry, and embarrassed, all for nothing. And I still had to wait for 168 more hours on top of that. But worst of all, I didn’t have the new phone. My heart skipped a beat when I remembered seeing my boss in the street. What would he do when he saw me the next day? What if he picked up on my lies? If I lost my job, I may not even be able to afford the ePhone 12. Forget one week; I would be waiting forever.
     Dreading what would unfold at the office the next day, I pushed my way through the crowd of employees and back into the streets, where I had suffered all night to get a new phone that wasn’t even out yet.