Pretty early in the morning, the sky was dark and gloomy. As the rain poured in torrential, thunder rumbled, and lightning flashed. Chilllness engulfed the atmosphere, attributed to the current weather conditions.
"Mmmmmm..."
Nova moaned in satisfaction, clutching her soft blanket tightly. The warmth she felt under the blanket made her dread the thought of waking up. The rhythmic relentless sound of the raindrops pattering on the window panes elevated the height of enjoyment she felt. She swiftly wheeled around, snuggling deeper under her cozy blanket. She was ready to relish the moment even more. However...
"BEEEEP!!!"
The alarm atop the bedside table began ringing abruptly.
It was exactly 6:00AM.
Nova's heart lurched in frustration, the feeling of annoyance coursing through her veins. Without a second thought, she shot out her arm and smacked the snooze button with a thud. For a moment, the chillness seeped through her flesh, but the hand warmed up once she withdrew it under the blanket. She closed her eyes, and allowed herself to sink in the embrace of heat which her body emitted...
"BEEEEP!!!"
"Uuughhhh..."
It was already 6:10 AM, and the alarm clock was buzzing again. Nova felt as though a second had barely elapsed since snoozing the alarm. With each note of vibration, her mind grew with fury. She hastily slammed her palm on the snooze button, retreating back to her heavenly comfortable cocoon. With her arms sandwiched between her warm thighs, she let out a soft contended sigh and surrendered herself to the blissful swaddle of her bed...
"BEEEEP!!!"
"Curse you!"
Nova snarled, grabbing the clock tightly with fidgetting hands.
"Go shriek in hell!"
With her nose scrunched up in disgust, she hurled the clock in front against the wall. The impact made a satisfying "CRACK!" as the alarm fell silent. Smirking to herself, Nova nestled back under the covers, satisfied that she had finally conquered the evil device.
Outside, the downpour remained unrelenting, the thunder and lightning persistent. With the pestering noise of the clock dealt with, the victor slumbered profoundly, savouring the fruits of her conquest.
After a while...
"Ding-dong!"
"Ding-dong!"
"Ding-dong!"
The doorbell rang once, twice, three times. At first, Nova heard it only as a distant, muffled noise, like the buzzing of a mosquito in her ear. But as it rang a third time, the sound grew louder, more insistent, until finally it pierced through the fog of her sleep, rousing her from her slumber.
Her eyes fluttered open, squinting against the bright sun rays that percolated inside the room through the windows.
"No way...!"
She exclaimed, frantically brushing aside the blanket. Her head instinctively pivoted to the side, on the bedside table where her alarm clock rests. However, she was greeted by a mocking nothingness.
"Tch! Who's taken the clock?!"
Like a rabbit, she leapt out of the bed, scurrying around the room disoriented. Then, as if possessed, she abruptly halted on her tracks, stroking her fingers through her hair. With her eyebrows knitted together, she remained still, desperately racking her brain for a distant memory. Throughout the turmoil, the doorbell's ringing remained unrelenting.
After a moment, Nova wheeled around and headed back to the bed.
"Where are you? Where are you?"
She carelessly tossed the pillows away, one after another. Beneath the last one, she found what she had been seeking for. Her cellphone. She quickly grabbed it, turning it on with a familiar dexterity. Her gaze bored onto a single focal point of the screen, the centre.
'8:45 AM'
"I overslept? Impossible!"
In the next fifteen minutes, the first period of school was going to start. For her to make it to school on time, she had to truncate her morning routine to five minutes, using the other ten minutes for transport which was by bus. She was certain that it was practically impossible to get all these things done under such a span of time.
What was she even thinking studying until late at night?
"Ding-dong!"
The jarring sound of the doorbell vibrated through the atmosphere once more, snapping her out of her reverie. Her mind swirled with possibilities of who it might be, however, all she could conjure up was blankness.
At the moment, Nova was all alone in the house. Her parents had left quite early for work, even before her alarm clock went off.
The doorbell continued ringing, and Nova found the sound so irritating. Despite not having the slightest idea of who it might be, she began walking out of her bedroom. Nothing irked her more than having to deal with strangers at the door.
On her way out, her foot unwittingly hit her poor forgotten victim, the clock, and in turn, it rolled down under the bed. She shortly ceased her progress, her eyes darting down across the floor. Yet, she couldn't see the object.
The persistent doorbell rang again, prompting Nova to storm out of the chamber in a huff.
"You're pestering me!"
She walked through the hallway and descended the staircase to the living room to confront the caller, disgruntled.