I woke up this morning with a faint throbbing in my head. Everything was in a disorderly haste as I rolled over and responded to my alarm. OK so it wasn't a dream, my alarm was ringing - err possibly for quite some time now. I lifted my head up and forced an eye to open. 

What a beautiful day! The sun was up, the birds were singing, the sky was bright, we'll be going to church today, I'm goi -- OK hang on, church was yesterday. Which makes today a Monday. A Monday. Oh shit! A Monday! That makes me - OH MY GOODNESS!!- I was unbelievably late! 

Instantly, my eyes popped right open. I jumped out of bed, ran to the bathroom, and shrieked as I caught my reflection on the mirror. My hair was disheveled, dark circles were forming below my eyes.  I looked like ... like a cross between Kung Fu Panda and the Lion King. 

Whatever! No time to waste chop chop! I washed up as quickly as I could, made myself a cup of coffee (thank God for Nescafe 3 in 1), slipped into some clothes and made a dash to the lifts. As soon as I stepped out of the building, my legs immediately sprung into action and I sprinted halfway across the street. 

I had to cross the road to get to the bus stop. The pedestrian traffic light had just turned red. Which signalled me not to cross. But I was late. The bus was coming anytime. And I could not miss the bus. So I dashed across the road. Without thinking or looking twice. Any slower and a car would have ran over -- never mind, I'm still alive, phew!

I caught the bus, took my seat on the upper deck and fished out Harper Lee from my bag. I've calculated: 25 minutes to school, 25 back from school. That's 50 minutes a day, 50 x 5 = 250 minutes a week of reading. I had to make full use of every second I had. Time was money, money was time! 

But my mind was skittering, my brain was barely registering the sentences my eyes fed. I checked my watch every 2 minutes, and I stopped myself when I realized my fingers were drumming impatiently against my thigh. Traffic was heavy, the bus was practically crawling and I was late. So late. I'm late. Late late late late

OK calm down. I need to get a grip of myself. I took in long and deep breathes and felt my chest rise and fall as I inhaled and exhaled. This felt good. I suddenly feel more... relaxed. My heart rate begins to drop steadily, a smile slowly spreads across my face, Ingrid Michaelson comes up on my iPod and she's telling me to "keep breathing". WOW! This was like a message from God! 

I closed my eyes, began to loosen my shoulders when suddenly, the driver slammed his foot on the breaks and entire bus jerked forward.

My eyes snapped wide open and I bolted upright as a wall of panic hits me. What on earth?!! I craned my neck and saw that a lady had ran across the street right in front of the bus. Jeez! Doesn't she know how to cross only when she's supposed to? How foolish can she be?! She could have been killed by a bus, her guts spilling out on the road, face distorted into -- OK. Wait. Err. This sounds awfully familiar. Ooookay.   

So the bus pulls up at Aldwych and I jumped out before the doors were completely open. Late! Late! Late! The second my feet touched the ground, I picked up my pace to match the stride of everyone else. No, I overtook them. Hah! I was like Usain Bolt, in high heels. The wind was hitting hard on my face, my hair was all over the place, my arms were at right angles (for faster walking speed - but I looked quite like a chicken). I ignored the strange looks I was getting. I walked faster and faster, weaving through the crowd.

Then finally! I reached the lecture hall. I was panting so hard, I sounded like a suffocated dog. I sat down and felt a surge of satisfaction. Oh yay, I wasn't thaaat late :) 

I breathe a sigh of relief. Thank goodness this jittered, frantic, helter-skelter mess was only for today. Oh and yesterday, when we were running late for church. Hmm and well, last Friday when we were late for class. Last Wednesday when we had to rush for London Rock. And for dinner on Saturday. Actually, it was worse during the entire ten weeks of my internship. I had to push my way and elbow everyone else to get into the Underground tubes to work! OH And during the boxing day sale! My gosh, the crowd was insane! Well, New Years Eve too for that matter. And the time I nearly missed my train, and when had to run to the Shaftesbury Theatre, and oh that time when.... 

Err...OK OK fine. Every other day of my life here in London.