After mom left for bed, I still don't feel any fatigue, so I walk to the sink while pulling both my sleeves up. My hands dig in the dirty water, searching for the excess food, and take them out then throw it in the garbage. Even after I did all that, the sink is still clogged, and that means the main pipe is still obstructed by unseen waste.

My eyes raise to the window in front of me, seeing a darkened backyard only illuminated by the excess kitchen light. However, the indoor lighting manages to flood the yard with illumination, and reveal a small shack, where my father stores his tools. The thing about my backyard, it's connected to the forest, it's one of the perks living near the outskirt of the city.

I remember dad has a book about plumbing in the garage somewhere, so I need to head to the garage first before grabbing any tool from the shack. My head turns to the door in the kitchen that leads directly to the garage, I walk to it and open it, revealing a dark room. Walking down the few steps, I search for the light switch in the darkness by dragging my hand across the wall as I walk then I stumble upon the light switch.

After flipping the switch on, the fluorescent light flashes a couple of time before banishing the darkness away and making my sight useful again. My sight is greeted by an amalgamation of old items stack over each other, such as gym equipment, mountain bikes, my mom old sewing machine, and other junk that my parent doesn't use anymore.

In that pile of old stuff, I find what I was looking for, an old bookcase hiding behind a stack of medium-sized cardboard boxes. I gently move the stack of boxes away to give me access to the bookcase. My mom and dad used to be an avid reader before I was born, they kept books on everything from fiction to non-fiction. For example, this book I'm searching for; Plumbing for Dummies.

Most people would just search the instruction online since I don't have my phone with me and I don't have any other electronic device that can access the internet. The best solution I could think is to use the book, I have never been an avid reader before despite my parent loved for books.

Since I need to know how to fix a clogged sink, why not give it a try? After I open the book, cloud of dust float in front of me, I blow it away with my breath and swipe the pages to clear out the remaining dust.

My mind starts to focus on the words then my brain starts to imagine the steps the book told me, and everything I read was clear like water. Quite odd, I have never been this focus before when reading, does my lack of emotions help make my mind process thing faster and efficient? Maybe, without boredom, I didn't feel reading like a chore, and without worrying about the sink, my mind can focus more on the book.

I close the book after getting the information I need, placing the book back into the shelf, I start walking toward the door, but my legs stop when I accidentally kick something on the way there. My gaze went to the floor in front of my feet, and see an old board game.

A monopoly board game, I lift it to meet my sight, and I can hear Daisie's young voices in the far distance.

'You can't buy that space because I wanted that! Andre!' Her lips pout as I bought the space next to her.

I place the board game among the books and continue walking toward the door. I flip the switch along the way then the light flickers before shutting off then I close the door behind me as I enter the kitchen. After walking to the back door, I push it open and walk out of the house.

Arriving at the small shack, I open the shambling door, and the rusted hinges let out a squeaking noise. My hand reaches for the light switch and flip it up to switch on the small light bulb inside the shack. My eyes gaze upon the slightly rusted tools and find the one I need: a ten-meter, drain cleaner rod, pliers, an adjustable wrench, and a bucket.

I bring all the tools back to the kitchen then I start working on the pipe, placing a bucket under the swivel P-trap first and removing it. The dirty water and the excess waste fall into the bucket that's when the pungent smell of spoiled food being soak for years hit my nostrils. Thanks to my inability to feel disgusted, I didn't evacuate the inside of my stomach through my mouth.

After I disconnect the sink tube that was attached to the interior piping, I slide in the drain cleaner rod into it. With all the ten-meter rod push into the pipe, I pull it back out and once again the same smell hit my nose when the entire rod is taken out. I turn my head away, avoiding the terrible smell. As easy as pie, I assemble the pipe and test the sink; my head nod when the water flows once again into the drain.

I clean all the mess I made and take a shower upstairs.

After wearing my other oversize clothes, I lay on the bed with both my hands beside me, my eyes blink a couple of times while my ears hear the nothingness and loneliness around me. Even after repairing the clogged sink, my body still feels refresh like I just wake up from a sleep. My eyes stare at the ceiling above me then move my gaze to the end table where my digital clock is, it shows: 12.00 am.

My upper body raise and I sat at the edge of the bed; my gaze wanders around the room, seeing my old stuff still look the same as I left it, my closet is wide open, and I caught a glimpse of an N7 T-shirt from the mass effect games. Standing up from the bed, I walk toward the closet and take out the N7 T-shirt.

The T-shirt is too small for me because it doesn't belong to me, it belongs to Daisie, she had left here a long time ago, I press the fabric up to my nose, and I can still smell her lavender scent latch onto the T-shirt. Something wet slide down my cheek, I reach it with my finger and find a single tear.

I'm crying? But I don't feel sad... Is that good? Am I slowly becoming better?

I place the T-shirt back in my closet, Daisie has always loved that game series, she plays it so many times that I was becoming annoyed at her gaming habits, Daisie said to me that she loves the story so much, the beautiful soundtrack and the interesting character. I take a long breath in and wear something thick like my hoodie.

I walk down to the kitchen and out to the backyard again. Opening the tool shacks, my eyes narrow at the lawnmower. I can't use it because it might wake up the entire neighborhood, so I pick the next best thing, a scythe. With the large Scythe between my hands, I walk to the front yard and start cutting the overgrown grass.

Swing after swings.

I cut away the tall-overgrown grass in a straight line; I don't know for how long I was trimming the front lawn because time went by so fast for me that I didn't even notice. After finishing the front yard, I start doing the same thing to the back of the house and keeps on cutting the wild grass with a large Scythe in my hands until I finally tired myself out.

I went back to my bedroom and tuck in under the blanket after my body finally feels the fatigue, and only then I'm able to fall asleep.

*

The moon is replaced by a bright sun, as morning finally arrived.

It was a dreamless sleep before I wake up to the mouth-watering smell of fresh pancake being cook early in the morning. I rub my eye with my hand, as I stretch my shoulder to release the aching pain that haunts my body. After washing my face in the bathroom, I walk down the stairs and head to the kitchen where I see my mom flipping pancakes using the frying pan.

The moment I take a seat at the dining table, my mom served me a plate of pancakes with maple syrup poured on it along with a cup of coffee on the side. The tantalizing fragrance of freshly made Buttermilk Pancakes causes my own stomach to growl, and my mouth to water.

The butter on top of the pancake slowly melts while the sweet maple syrup drip at the side. With a knife in my hand, I cut through the fluffy soft texture of the pancake and revealing the white inner part. Then with a fork in my other hand, I stab the first layer of the pancake, and move it closer to my mouth; where I take a huge bite out of it.

An explosion of flavor occurs inside my mouth, as my tastebuds recognize the taste of sweet gooey syrups mix with a tinge salty butter and the sweetened fluffy buttermilk pancake.

My mom takes a seat across me, I notice the work uniform that she is wearing, but I didn't recognize the uniform from mom previous job. Nevertheless, she looks better now her unkempt frizzy hair has gathered behind her head, and turn into a ponytail.

"Thank you for fixing the sink, my Little Bumbee. By the way, did you mow the lawn last night?"

"I did."

"Huh, because I didn't hear the lawnmower last night."

I can't tell my mom that I mow the lawn last night using the scythe because she might get worried about me overworking myself.

"You must be sleeping like a log last night because the lawnmower is loud as far as I can remember. I only hope the neighbor didn't get upset by it."

She nods her head, agreeing to my answer, "Anyway, what's my Little Bumbee plan for today?"

"Find a job at the nearest gas station or whatever store close to this neighborhood."

"So, you still want to find a job? Because I don't mind you taking your time to rest, I don't want my son to get sick again."

"I don't want to be a burden to you, mom."

"What are you talking about?" She let out a smile.

"You never a burden to me."

She let out a chuckle, "I never thought you to be so diligent all sudden. First, you fix the sink, then you mow the lawn, and now you want to find a job? Back then, I can't even get you to throw out the trash without raising my voice."

"You change so much in a short time..." Her voice trails off, as her eyes wander elsewhere.

"Is the change... bad?"

I seem to have snapped her back to reality, "Not at all. It doesn't matter whether you are lazy or hard-working or anything else, I still love you unconditionally as your mother. No matter what."

She stood up from the chair and walk to my side where she lay a kiss on my forehead, "I really want to help you find a job, but unfortunately, I have work today."

"It's okay, mom... By the way, did you change job?"

"You notice, my little Bumbee. I did switch my job. Right now, I work as an office clerk at a warehouse for cleaning products, near the city."

She grabs her handbag at the kitchen counter and stops at the table. Her hand reaches into her handbag then take out a smartphone with a crack screen. Afterward, she places it on the table, my gaze gravitates to it, and I recognize the phone; it was mine.

"You should have this, it still works. Even though, the screen is crack, and also here." My mom takes out a hundred-dollar bill from her purse, and place it under the phone.

"You need it for lunch and stuff. I hope it is enough."

"It more than enough mom, I don't need a hundred bill for lunch."

"Just in case of emergency, you may need it, believe me. also here your wallet, it has your ID and some other stuff." She takes out a black leather wallet that I'm pretty sure it wasn't mine.

"What happens to my old one?"

"It got soaked in blood... I couldn't wash it off." My mom line of sight downcast while her lips flatten.

That was a bad move, I accidentally bring up the accident, I better apologize. "Oh... Sorry, for bringing it up."

"It's okay. I'm heading out. Please, take care of yourself, make sure you get home safely, okay?" Her worried face makes my heart tighten every time I see it, I nod my head in response, and she let out a smile before walking out the door and drive away.

After I reach for my coffee, I found it to be empty, so I stood up, and walk to the kitchen to fill up the cup with coffee. I notice the teapot plastic handle has broken off, leaving only the metal handle part, but without me realizing the danger of holding a scorching metal, I reach out and grab it.

Pain surges up to my wrist. The heated exposed metal handle burn my hand causing my teeth to clench, I push the handle and let the cold water from the faucet run down my hand. After a minute, I move my hand away from the flowing water, and see a few blisters on my palm, at least my mom didn't see that.

There is still lingering pain on my hand, I know that the metal is hot, but why did I still grab it? Does my lack of fear make me careless? Will the lack of other emotions affect my choice like this way? I can't depend on my emotion then I need to depend on logic.

Think before you do.

"I need to take a shower before I head out."