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“Relax”

You try kicking off your shoes after a long day at work. You put in so much effort your back aches almost as much as your feet. You long to take a seat and relax for a few minutes. But what if you couldn’t? What if you had to choose between working until your bones break or take one rest and sleep for an eternity?

The hot summer sun beat down on my skin, leaving what felt like blisters in its wake. Wiping sweat from my face, I carried on working. What choice did I have after all?
If I’d step inside and enjoy the blissfully cool air I would follow suit with my family and succumb to the comfort. That was the last thing I’d want to happen. After all, if I retired we would have no food to put on the table.
Sure, I might sit down and rest my body for a few minutes, but I know I couldn’t stop. I had to fight the urge to give up. I stood where I was and continued digging at the ground, shovel in hand.
My arms ached and my muscles screamed for some relief but I had to fight myself to stay steady. It was a test of strength, of will power. It was not simply a matter of working until I am done for the day, I’d been out here doing this for at least a week now. It’s been a week since it started.
My wife and I decided after a lot of debating, we were going to buy our kids phones. We wanted to keep in touch with them in case of emergencies. With the phones came internet access. A good way to keep in touch with their friends.
Things took a dark turn when they came out with a new app. It was the newest thing in automation. It basically allowed you to control things without the need to move. It convinced them they didn’t need to do anything but relax.
Relaxation is what the world wants to feed to the newest generation. But the thing is, my kids are different. They are always high energy and willing to help. They always wished nothing more than to run around, else be fitted with boredom.
The phone, the app, it did something to them. It latched on to my wife, and she doesn’t even have a phone. There’s something the app does that makes you want to relax and never get back up.
The worst part is, it’s starting to grab a hold on me. I can feel it grabbing on to me, wearing me down. I have to keep fighting it. I refuse to give in. If I do I will lose myself. A few more hours of pain to fight an eternity of peace.
I did try pulling them away from it, even raising my voice. I wasn’t a fan of yelling at my own kids, nor my wife, but it was all I could do. I couldn’t hurt them. I refused. Trying to pull them away was less off removing a bandage and more removing a bone from an injured animals open arm.
I kept pushing myself harder and harder. I needed to feed my family. I kept digging until I found the body. It was the dog we buried months ago. I could smell the rotting flesh.
I picked up the dog and brought it inside. My legs felt as through they were going to give out. I laid the dog on the counter and toppled to the floor. I couldn’t take it anymore, I had to rest.
My family made their way over to me and the dog. They looked at us with hunger in their eyes. They lunged forward and took a bite out of me.

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