The alarm goes off for… what? The fifth time? Sixth? I’ve lost track, partly because I have a tendency to sleep through alarms. I can recall at least two before this, though, so I’m sure there are a couple I “missed.” Without opening my eyes, I reach over and hit the volume button on my phone, silencing the alarm for another snooze cycle. I don’t intend to let it yell at me again, but still it takes a moment to get my brain prepared for the day and to get my body moving.

First thought: Well, I actually slept through the night.

Second thought: And yup, my head still feels weird. Definitely still some Wellbutrin in my system.

I half-open my eyes to look at the digital display of the “normal” alarm clock I keep on the dresser next to my bed, the one that exists solely so I don’t have to actually move when I need to see the time in the middle of the night.

Third thought: Guh. It’s 6:00. My alarm is always set for 5:15 so I have time to get up and feed animals before getting the rest of the household moving. Snooze lasts nine minutes each time, so that makes it… I groan as I force myself partway out of bed. I rub my eyes, trying to force the sleep out of them. Crap. It’s too early in the morning to be doing math.

I slip out of bed and grab the pills off my dresser I’d set out the night before, downing them with a quick swallow of water. The first two of my daily medications. The first two of my wards against insanity.

I grab my clothes in the dark and slip out of the room as quietly as I can so as not to wake either my wife or my son, whose room is right next to ours. Athena pads out of the bedroom next to me, her claws clicking on the wooden floor. The house feels chillier than normal this morning, despite the fact that the furnace is running, so I realize it must be colder outside than it has been since that cold snap we had a couple of weeks back.

I get dressed in the bathroom, Athena watching me patiently by the door. “I know,” I mumble to her. “You’re up next.” We walk through the kitchen together, and I unlock the door. Athena slips past me quickly, off to do her business. She’ll have food waiting for her when she comes back in, and that’s when I’ll slip outside and get the farm animals fed. I grab my morning tab of Wellbutrin from the counter while I wait.

My head is starting to feel a little better now, which is good. I’ve been worried that the Wellbutrin would have me crawling out of my skin again, but it looks like my body might acclimate to it alright for now. I’m hoping to get ahold of the clinic today and get my first appointments set up.

Athena appears on the other side of the storm door, and I let her in. She goes straight to her food bowl and starts chowing down. I leave her to it, grab my coat and flashlight — ’tis the season, I think — and step outside into the brisk morning air. It’s time to get this day started.

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