Authors Note:

I Like Soup is a collection of the OffBeat drabbles/ficlets I will do. Each one of these will be from a theme word/phrase/something or other that I see/read/hear/actively search for. There will be a range from boy/boy to girl/girl to girl/guy to gen. Or whatever else I think of. The rating will go up once there are more.

Warnings: None.

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My Eyes Hurt

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The computer's screen illuminated the room, casting a pale glow on nearby objects. Beverage containers littered the small table where a boy was clicking away at the computer, pausing every few seconds to writes something down in a notebook on the table. It was late into the night and the boy should have been asleep hours ago, curled up in the warm recesses of his bed. Not working on the computer with the lights out so his eyesight would fail him later in life.

Outside the room there was hardly a sound, the other occupants asleep like any normal being at that hour of night. Occasionally there was a creak or two from the duplex itself as the walls shifted, unnoticed by the naked eye. The wind was blowing outdoors, beating against the windows and rocking objects back and forth on the ground. Litter scattered across the street and flew up into the air. Down the street a siren went off and a dog started to bark, but no one in that duplex noticed. The boy only clicked away at the keys.

There was sweat across his brow from concentration and no air. Their cooling system went out last week and the repairman was being slow as ever to make a visit. It was probably something simple, too, that had went wrong. A wire fell loose, or something needed to be replaced from years of use. It would probably cost more than it was worth, but no one had time to argue. Life was always busy.

Fatigue was no concern to the boy. Other things were more important than the sleep his body had been craving for hours now. There was a soft sound from the boy's lips as he made a connection and quickly scribbled away on the notebook, his eyes straining in the dim light.

A hand reached out and took hold of a can, shaking it to hear that there was nothing left. Eyes glanced to the clock on the corner of the desk. While a sigh left parted lips, Colin stood up from his seat and went to grab another drink from the refrigerator. He had to use the bathroom; his bladder reminded him on the way out with a painful tinge. With the way things seemed to be going with his summer studies, Colin felt he might never see the end of this night. What a bother.