"Waste"ing my life away
I chugged my last few sips of Mountain Dew in a single gulp, screwed the cap on the bottle, grabbed my novel du jour and cellphone, and got up to leave my favorite reading nook after my lunch break ended.

Despite it not being my means of entry to the building, I always seem to exit through a side door. Perhaps it has something to do with the location of the door relative to my office. No, that couldn't be it or I would use this door as my entrance as well.

Whatever my internal justification, I went through my exit of choice and veered a couple steps out of my way to dispose of my now-empty 20-ounce bottle of liquid energy in the nearest waste receptacle.

The spring-loaded door, angled up and away from the domed lid of the garbage can, had something small, round, and grey pinned in it. Sticking from the greyish sphere was a nearly two-inch-long cylinder speckled in orange and white.

Lovely, I thought as I stepped nearer to the wastebasket. Some idiot is too lazy to make sure their garbage is all the way in the can.

I raised my foot to take another step closer when the mystery object spun toward me. My eyes, if not completely awake before, were now in a state beyond mere alertness. They focused on the landfill-bound anomaly. And, as my foot set ground to finish the step I was taking, the whole of the enigmatic subject flew out of the garbage can.

It was a squirrel.

With a baby carrot.

Clearly enjoying his lunch break.

At the expense of my heart rate.

I may reconsider my exit strategy.

2,996
Just a reminder that I am taking part in the soon-to-go-live 2,996 project courtesy of D.C. Roe. After weighing all the press inquiries he has received, D.C. has asked that some of us consider posting ahead of time so the media has some examples they can use for articles. I don't want to post too early, so I will probably publish my tribute on Sunday, one day before the fifth anniversary of 9/11.

As I recall, also taking part are Sizzle, Hilly, and Bec. If anyone else is taking part, please speak up in the comments.

Stay tuned for it.

Latest Fun With Dead Trees review - The Ruins: A Novel by Scott Smith reviewed by yours truly. Claire's on fire having added three more reviews in as many days. Check out Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell, On Bullshit by Harry Frankfurt, and The Ongoing Moment by Geoff Dyer.

As I've said before, FWDT is always looking for more guest reviewers. If you're a reader and you'd like to contribute, just e-mail me and I'll tell you what you need to do.