I look over at my alarm clock
6:44
I wait in silence
The clock rings once, twice, three times
And is silenced immediately
6:45
I get up and prepare to shower
As the water is propelled at jet-speed
I scrub
Hard
At every little dirt bite or bacteria cell
I scrub even though it hurts
And my skin begins to get
Raw and red
The hot water helps
It stings a bit
But it gets rid of the dirt better than cold water
I step out of the shower
Red but clean

As I exit the bathroom,
I close the door
Halfway first
Then I open it again
Then I close it a little more
Open it all the way
And finally shut it

I sit down at the table
And start eating Cheerios
Because that’s the only cereal I’ll eat
No reason to change when you have the best
All the others color the milk
Unnatural and uneven colors
That wouldn’t do


Later, I check the clock twice, just because
7: 15
Right on time
I take a quick glance at the mirror
A similar, symmetrical face stares back
Hair in place, eyeliner on, wrinkle-free clothes
Good, I sigh to myself closing my eyes
I open them and leave the room,
Not before checking at my reflection and the time once again

People ask me why I always do these things
Why?
Because if I don’t
Something irreversible and terrible will happen
The world will know
And it would be angry at me
Because I hadn’t done all the things that I needed to do
Everyday
Something or someone, somewhere, will go wrong or get hurt
And it would all be my fault
No,
I can’t have that
So if I do all this,
Everything will be fine
No one will realize
The weight of the world was on my shoulders
Like a superhero
No one would know my secret
No one could blame me
7:25
Perfect