Saturday morning. We start with a Cambridge test for my kids. Everyone gets a sticker, everyone is smiling. I’m too tired to play, I’m to tired to teach, but I go on not thinking, not breathing my exhaustion.
Friday nights know me so well. They are meant to be so that they can torture me to death. I always play it safe. I do my work fast, as much as I can during the day and go to bed really early. But then something weird happens. I can’t sleep. I sit there, watching the ceiling or a movie and try to fall asleep. Nothing. 3 am and still nothing. Saturday morning: torture. I look at the bartender with almost blinded eyes, I am acting strange and spacey and hope I’ll wake up by the time I get to school. Some mornings their smiles or problems wake me up, some mornings they’re just as tired as I am. I’ve always wondered why kids here go to school on Saturdays, even if they’re optional classes. It’s weird and the poor little guys sometimes struggle to stay awake and do a good job in the class.
But then lunch break hits and I meet someone close for cappuccino or today a birthday girl, so for a couple of hours the tiredness goes away. The coffee works its magic. Or maybe it’s just the company. Oh, Saturdays, I used to love you so much; the laziness working its way through my body in your mornings, the smile at the sight of the clock showing me it’s lunch time and I’m still in my pajamas, the rolling in the bed just because it’s a free morning. All that is gone. I have Mondays for that, Tuesdays or any other weekday, but it just isn’t the same. You can hear the people running around outside, you can feel the vibe of the building pushing you out of bed. No weekday morning is the same as you dear Saturday. Yes, I do have your sister Sunday, but ever since I was a kid Sundays were for children not for the adults, hence that’s Ephia’s day now.
So, dear Saturday, I really do miss you despite all of our differences in the past. I am really looking forward for us to bond again and share some funny stories about our memories together. I know you will come back to me some day and even if it takes ten years for that to happen, I will still be hugging the pillow in your honor.
