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Darla sat amongst the things that still needed to be sorted and put away. Doing this sort of job was always hard for her. She was too easily distracted. There was a memory or importance of some type to every little object.
She worked better with music. But that too was a distraction this day. The music seemed to call her to get up and sway or be whisked back to another time in her life, making her stop to contemplate.
Catching herself once again she tried to pay more attention to her job at hand. Darla knew her mind could still slide away while she was working. It was hard to dream, clean and stay focused at the same time.
Another pen to go back to the pen drawer. Her memory began sliding into a time at a restaurant where she had a conversation about a similar pen. She had given a couple to a waitress who smiled and laughed saying "A waitress can never have enough pens. Especially one that will write on the receipts."
Closing the drawer she noticed a bit of dust on the freshly cleaned buffet. "Oh where did I put that dust cloth" she thought. "There is is," she said to no one in-particular.
Right beside it sat a cup and a couple other kitchen utensils. Picking them up instead, she made her way to the kitchen to put them away. She noticed her plant could use a drink. She poured water from the watering can on the thirsty plant and the other plant that sat right next to it.
Glancing over her shoulder she noticed the dogs water dish was in need of a refill too. Darla filled the jug of water and poured it into their dish. "There you go, some fresh water" she said to her dogs who were watching and wagging their tails in response.
Now singing along to the familiar tune of Jack and Diane playing on her mp3 player, her dog immediately felt this was an invitation to dance with her for a few seconds. Darla took the time to dance with him. His paw on her shoulder as she stooped down a bit to join him in a short waltz like dance.. Deciding she too could use a drink, Darla walked to the faucet to get herself some water.
Darla had been waiting on an email and wondered if her friend had written her back yet. She walked over to the computer to see. Nope, no message yet. She was again distracted looking at some silly pictures sent to her by other friends. Another furry companion squeezes in beside her on the chair trying to get some affection and attention slowing her down even further..
"Oh Yeah," she thought aloud, "drifting again." "Back to the table" she told her dog who was still sitting next to her. "Got to get back to work." Pushing him from her lap she headed back to the table of sorting.
A couple things needed to go to the bathroom. "Ah look, a nail file". She looked at her nails to see if they were uneven and checked them for jagged edges. Of course there were, so she stopped another moment and filed a few of them. Holding them out in front of her she inspected her nails with a smile. "Mmm mmmm", she tsk-ed herself. "I'm doing it again".
Darla got up and took the file and the other things to the bathroom and put them away. She noticed a few other items in the bathroom that belonged in that drawer as well. She took the time to put them away. Picking up a barrette she played with it, checking the hinges. Grabbing a nearby comb, she pulled it through her hair several times. She flirted with herself for a moment in the mirror.
Once again, she knew she was distracted. "Back to work with you," she joked to the face before her. Grabbing a pair of scissors that belong back in the other room she headed back to her work area. A bit put out that her task was not getting done as fast as she had hoped.
On and on, she tried to work through her distractions. She found it so hard to stay on track with her chore. Darla was aggravated with herself for her own lack of discipline in getting this job done.
After another few minutes of sorting she noticed she was, once again, letting herself get distracted by a nice, smooth-writing pen and a pad of paper. This time it was her desire to write and catch those little moments of inspiration that drifted through her mind.
Shaking her head with the reality she just distracted herself to the point of writing a whole short story about being distracted..
"OKAY!! NOW BACK TO WORK!!!!!!"
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