Creature Comfort

When his manager called to tell him that they were going ahead with the hardware upgrade he’d audibly sighed in relief.

Dan thought of all the other things he’d been meaning to tackle around the office; sorting through the old equipment and figuring out what could be donated and what needed to be disposed of could easily fill up a couple of weeks. He was sure his supervisor would be fine with him continuing to go in and probably even praise him for his initiative.

‘Might end up getting promoted just for going stir crazy.’

Dan wondered if there was a name for Cabin Fever when it wasn’t happening in some remote wilderness locale.

‘Lock-Down Lethargy? Shelter-In-Place Syndrome? Quarantine Kookiness?’

He packed up his things and headed for the door.

“Forgetting something?”

Dan froze, waiting for the voice to say something else.

When it didn’t, he slowly turned back and looked around for an explanation. His desktop machine was shut down and there was nothing else nearby that could account for what he’d heard.

He took a tentative step toward the door and then another, arm reaching out for the handle.