MOUTH OF NAILS - DAY 187 Freewrite

It's 5 am, it feels like the first day of a new chapter in his life, he could barely sleep throughout the night as different thoughts flood his mind, he has always being a latecomer, all his life he felt like he was chasing time, maybe he didn't want to get there late, keeping a vigil was his way of making sure he wasn't late.

"Gotta start today right," He said to himself as he turned over and looked at the time.

He hopped out of bed hurriedly as he freshened up, he felt an urge to do things right for the first time in his life, like his whole world depended on how this day went, he has always been a carefree person but today its different. He stared in the mirror as he brushed his teeth.

Thoughts of his mother's voice echo in his mind "why don't you go get a job, Frank"

"Well I'm getting a job now ma," he chuckled to himself spitting out the foam as he rinsed his mouth.

He could hear footsteps downstairs, he knew they were deliberate noises made by his mother to wake him up.

"Frank, I hope you up there getting ready now"

"Yes ma," He responded as he rushed downstairs.

Thirty minutes as passed since he woke up, He sat down at the dinner table with a bowl full of cereals, his mother sat opposite with watchful eyes like she's on the verge of speaking.

"well finally, you're getting your shit together"

"Not now ma, you staring at me eating cereals, I thought you fixed something for breakfast"

"well, if you wanted to eat, you should have woken up early and fixed one for yourself," she replied sharply with a witty smile.

She has always pampered him but not today, she felt like she was pushing him out the den, something she should have done a long time ago. He took the last bite of cereals as he heard some honking outside.

"That must be Mr. Donald, C'mon hurry up and meet him"

Mr. Donald is a family friend that owns a local roofing company, Frank's mum had talked to him to help him start learning the trade and start a job, Frank put on his hat as he stormed off to meet Mr. Donald in the car.

"Goodbye, ma"

"Be safe son," She replied as she waved over to Mr. Donald in the car.

Frank sat down in the car and greeted Mr. Donald, some country music was playing on the radio, Mr. Donald turned down the volume as he greeted Frank with a firm handshake. Mr. Donald is a bit on the old side, he always had this faint smile on his face like he's reminiscing about something.

"Thank you, sir, for the opportunity, My mum told me all you've done to help me"

"No worries, son, you are practically family to me, besides young men need to be handy nowadays, we are losing the working culture among the youths, learning a trade comes with its benefits you know, you'd be surprised," He said nodding at Frank.

The car stops abruptly in front of a yard, Franks looks around and sees a roof in progress, he gets out immediately after Mr. Donald, He stood beside the car feeling idle while Mr. Donald went to speak to the homeowner in the distance, Frank felt like he wanted to do something but didn't know where to start, He looked around pacing as he observed the height of the apartment. "That's a tall building," He thought to himself.

"Hey! Frank, you can start offloading the tools," Mr. Donald yells from a distance.

"Okay sir"

After 10 mins of offloading and setting up the tools, real work began swiftly, It was a bumpy ride for Frank, Mr. Donald could tell he was struggling even though he was trying to hide it but he knew he was ready to learn.

"You okay, son? we can take a break if you want"

"No, Mr. Donald I'm alright"

Frank didn't mean any of those words but he felt he had to prove something, here is an old timer hammering away in the summer heat and he wanted to keep up even at the verge of exhaustion.

Frank was about to take another drink from his cold water bottle when he noticed Mr. Donald chugging his mouth full of nails, he spits out a nail and hammers it in the roof in a seamless motion, it all seemed fluid and natural that Frank didn't even notice where the nails were coming from. Although he felt it couldn't be safe.

"Why don't you use a nail gun?" Frank asked in an effort to make small talk.

"Nail gun?" Mr. Donald laughed from a corner of his mouth.

"This hammer is an extension of my arm, I can feel the strength, vibrations and weak spots of the wood as I hammer it down, it is precise and I would say I handle it pretty fast compared to any hipster cookie-cutter nail gun out there"

"Nail gun..." he chuckled to himself again as he hammered on with his mouth full of nails.

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The Freewrite prompts is organised by @mariannewest, Nail is the prompt for Day 187. If you are interested in freewriting you can check out her blog for the daily prompts.