Sunday. I wake up certain that I’ve caught the Elderbeast’s bug. My nose is running, my head throbs, and my throat feels like a bag of razorblades. I stubbornly get up for my morning shift (and manage an epic, albeit slow-paced session that wraps up the latest draft of one story). I message my friends to excuse myself from games day, since I don’t want to infect them all, and prepare myself for a day on the sofa.
Having confined myself to quarters for the day I feel the ludicrous urge to head out for a change of scenery. I resist, but somehow find the energy to do some vigorous vacuuming of the disaster that has become my bedroom carpet. It does the trick: not only does the carpet look slightly less filthy, but it strips me of the last vestiges of energy and I finally sentence myself to sofa, blanket and TV.
I watch the second episode of The Night Manager, which is as excellent as the first, but decide it’s too tense and grim to provide appropriate viewing for the rest of my sick-day afternoon. Rather than spend another few hours deciding what to watch next, I settle for some more classic Doctor Who. Today’s choice is the immortal and brilliant Talons Of Weng-Chiang.
About halfway through I decide I’m not getting any better and ask Rachel if she can keep the kids for another night: while I can cope with feeding them and getting them to bed tonight (especially as dinner is already in the slow cooker) I have a sneaking suspicion that the energy required to get them ready for school in the morning will finish me off. Luckily she’s ok to keep them over. It’s bittersweet, however: this is the first of my #childfree weekends where I’ve really felt the absence of them in the house.
I treat myself to a plate of slow-cooked leg of lamb for dinner. I then treat myself to second plate because it’s so damn tasty. At least I haven’t lost my appetite. After that I return to the sofa and watch a pretty cool sci-fi drama on Netflix called ARQ. Given that its premise revolves around a group of people trapped in a time loop, it’s almost too much for my plague-ridden brain to handle. However, I get into it before too long and thoroughly enjoy it.
I get to bed nice and early and finally turn the last page on Locke & Key. It’s been a great ride, and I feel a ridiculous sense of achievement having finally finished it. The best part is that I get to read it all over again, one day.