The old man got up from his bed and opened his refrigerator. But, it was empty. Not a piece of fruit or veggie in it. And still, he put his hand in, tried to grab something, but ofcourse nothing came in his hand. It was empty, after all.

The old man’s eyes shook. He closed the fridge only to open it again as if magically something would appear. But ofcourse, nothing happened.

And then, the old man shut the fridge door and a loud sound echoed. He started tapping his wrist vigorously, as if something would happen, but ofcourse nothing happened.

“Damn!! Of all the days, it has to be today”, he barked with no one around to hear his words.

I have been following him for days now, and this seems to be the daily routine. Initially, I would listen to his monologue filled with nothing but resentment, but as the days went past, I learnt to ignore it, and all I hear now is a bark!!

Anyway, who am I? And why am I following him?
Well, you will know soon enough.

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I was sleeping quietly in my bed. Another day spent just like that… or was it night? I really had no idea whatsoever. Suddenly, my stomach started growling.

‘What’s the time?’, I thought.
‘8:30 PM’, came the response.

I tried to stand but slumped. IF only there was a tech to make my stomach feel full!! Maybe I should work on it next.

The act of getting up from my cosy bed… opening the fridge… taking food out… adding water and boiling it…. and to top it off eat and chew it.

It was too much for me. TOO much effort for the lazy old me. A machine to make me feel full would be so good!! No, it would be an epic, a legendary invention!! I should work on it next.

Anyway, I miss homemade food. It has been ages since I have eaten homemade food.  Once upon a time, I would eat it every day. I never appreciated how much effort it took to make!! I would go on about demanding to make this and this and that too... But only when I lost the most precious person to me I realised how precious she was to me and how much effort she put up daily!!

The last time, I tried making it. It took 2 hours out of my life!!! 2 PRECIOUS Hours of effort!! Never ever I would consider such an option. Since that day, I am leaving off ready to make food.

Pour the contents of the sachet in boiling water and BINGO… ready in 2 minutes!! Well, that was a big fat lie… I have no idea how such lies are still used in marketing as it takes about 10 odd minutes to make it, but it is still the best alternative I have got anyway.

I looked around me and realised, ‘Damn, I am still in bed’

This is my daily routine now. And whenever there is an option… a chance to laze around I find myself taking that chance without realising it. I am sick of it, but it keeps happening anyway. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not the lazy life that I hate. On the contrary, it’s my belief that it’s the best way to live. What I hate though is that I lose control over it. That’s truly terrible.

Also, it’s my laziness, which makes me a great innovator. In fact, all great innovators are lazy to some degree. That’s what prompts them to make something to make life easier. And I was one of them. The laziest among them and the best among them. Yeah, I was definitely the best and yet…..

I have a neuro-chip in my head connected to an AI bot. The most advanced AI ever made.
It is one of its kind and was developed by me. I worked day in and night out for 15 years, experimented on myself to create this masterpiece and yet it was all for nought. It was just dismissed as being too dangerous for humanity!! Like Hell!!! Something I made can be dangerous? Can go out of control? Ridiculous indeed. The bastards decided to erase the trace of this brilliant experiment.

And so I kept it a secret that one of them is implanted in my own brain, destroyed all the records about the experiment to keep this one with me. Without it, I couldn’t live the lazy life I adore.

And did anything happen to me at all? Naah, not at all. It was all ridiculous indeed.

Anyway enough of this self-reflection, and I watched around. Yeah, I was still on my bed!!!

I got up from my cozy bed. It’s a traumatic experience to leave the bed!! I opened the refri, got the sachet and closed it. Hmmmm, I didnt get anything. I stared but nothing. I opened the fridge again. Alas!! It was empty. It was finally time to order some food.

I tried ordering food using the smart watch on my hand. It’s visuals are engrained in my eyes, so I might look like an idiot if I use it in front of someone. But, isn’t this a brilliant piece of tech??

Suddenly, a message popped. [National Holiday].
“Damn!! Of all the days, it has to be today!!”

And thus the lazy old me has to go out to buy some food. When was the last time I went outside?

‘6 months 14 days ago’, came the response.