Stephen Mejias

Up at 9am. No shower, no shave. Coffee. I sat down on my orange couch, opened the laptop and got to it. One more day of "Recommended Components."

I worked like the sky. In bursts. Hours of humidity were suppressed by moments of heavy rain, lightning, thunder. Entries were punctuated by e-mails to colleagues and Kelli — "Seven more blurbs to go. I think I can, I think I can..." — in an effort to maintain sanity and motivation. It helped. It took me all of Saturday, but I finished.

At a little after 10pm, I said goodbye to David Day and his Signature Modification. I don't remember how that one turned out. Like all things, it probably could have been better. But I was finished.

Finished.

Finished, I closed the laptop, sunk into the orange couch, and stared — dumbly — into nothing. An e-mail to the guys:

Done. 17 pages, 7000 words. I think I'll go make myself a drink.

"You did it sober?" Wes responded. "THERE'S your problem."