The Break

By Ashley Cheng

This is what I eat in a day as a–

Swipe.

THIS WOMAN WAS–

Swipe.

Here’s how I became successful and you can too!

Swipe.

The content slowly blurs into a long stream of noise and color, with just one action coming from my end: swipe.

Enough. I reach over my laptop and slam it shut.

Silence. Pure, uninterrupted silence.

My ears ring with the memory of constant noise,

But I can’t remember a single thing I watched.

I pull myself out of bed

And glance at the clock.

It’s 5 pm, getting late

1 hour since I told myself

I’ll just take a break.

But what break?

Can you count an hour

Of getting bombarded by attention-seeking, money-hungry people

A break?