We’ve got something special for you this week on #TheWRITEaddiction

The #LifeSoundtrackChallenge

This is where each writer picks a song and  shares a story or a memory that draws inspiration from the music like the song was playing in the background while the action was going on.

Today’s song is “Staying Alive” by the Bee Gees http://youtu.be/I_izvAbhExY

Why do I do this to myself?

The feel of the pavement refusing to give an inch as her feet continued to pound against the concrete surface was not a welcome sensation to her knees but Cassie’s nerves needed this. Her morning meeting had not gone well. Now, her boss expected her to cancel her vacation plans and work over time to complete a client project so that her BOSS could take a vacation.  It had taken all of her self control not to scream at her boss or worse yet, smack her silly. So, as soon as the meeting ended, she went back to her office, grabbed her gym back and headed to the employee locker room to change before hitting the pavement for a quick lunch break run.

Running had literally become her best coping mechanism over the past two years. She’d joined up with #BlackGirlsRun on a date from a friend when she first moved to Dallas, Texas, and had been hooked ever since.  

She paused at a stoplight and slowly jogged in place waiting for the signal to change in her favor. As she adjusted her wireless ear piece, one of her favorite running songs by the Bee Gees started playing and as usual, she had to sing along as she crossed the street, “ah ah ah ah, staying alive, staying alive…”

This was not the first time her boss had pulled something like this on her. She was constantly offloading her work into Cassie but this time it would mean that Cassie would lose her non refundable, all inclusive vacation package to Costa Rica. This was a trip that she had been saving for and planning for two years as her reward for sticking to her run training program.

It would serve Leslie right if I quit and took my vacation anyway.

The thought made her pause her workout for a moment it shocked her so badly. She walked a few yards over to a nearby bench and started stretching her legs a bit while she mulled the idea around in her head. The more she thought about it, the more she had to admit that she was miserable in her job mostly because it left so little time for her to explore new things and take time to get to know the sites and people of The Metroplex. She had known going in that IT was a demanding field but she was good and at this stage of her career and with her 36th birthday right around the corner she should not be in this type of situation.

Her stomach growled loudly reminding her that she had better get back so she had time to eat her sandwich before going back on the clock and knowing that when she got home tonight there were some things for her to start looking into.

~Marta C. Youngblood