Broken things.

Hello!

It's story time. Grab some tea, get comfortable and enjoy the ride. (Watch out with the tea though!)

Once upon a time there was this Dutch girl. And like so many times the Dutch girl was sitting behind her laptop, scrolling through social media and not doing what she actually should be doing. Surprisingly enough there weren't just social media tabs open, in the far left corner there were two tabs open, tabs that contained crucial information of the school projects she should be working on. There was this voice in the back of Dutch girl's head that kept telling her to stop the scrolling and start the studying. Although every time she was about to close one of the social media tabs she found something that caught her attention and kept her from actually closing the tab. Because oh my god just look at that cute dog wearing a superman cape or the sneezing cat! Enough, she decided. I am now going to make myself a cup of tea grab some studying snacks and finally start the projects.

And she did as she said. Tea in one hand, snacks next to the laptop, mouse in the other hand ready for some action. The social media tabs got closed and so only the school tabs remained. Another click and an empty Microsoft Word document got opened. The magic of technology. Nothing was going to keep her from working on the project anymore. The Dutch girl took a determent sip of her tea before putting it away and proceeding to the next phase of "getting ready for some school projects".  After doing some pre-project hand and arm stretching she was officially ready. 

Fingertips gently touching the keys of the keyboard, she typed and she typed, stopped to take a sip of her tea and typed some more. Now there were 5 complete sentences in the at first empty Word document. Time for evaluation, she decided as she leaned forward to re-read the sentences and check for possible spelling or grammar mistakes. No mistakes so far. Happy with the start of the important school project she leaned back whilst a little smile formed on her lips. This smile soon disappeared when she noticed that half the contents of her teacup were now on the keyboard. Panic took over the poor Dutch girl as reality kicked her in the face. Her hand reached out for the mouse to quickly save those five sentences she had just typed. It was the fastest she had ever moved. The laptop screen turned black after holding the power button for 10 seconds. Now it was time for some serious drying action. As quick as she could she moved the only half full cup of tea away from the laptop. She put the laptop in an upside down V shape to let most of the tea drip out of the keyboard. Chair pushed back and panic still in control she ran into the kitchen to grab a towel and some tissues. 

Once she got back to the laptop a lot of tea had come out already and was now forming a small puddle on the table. The Dutch girl quickly cleaned up the puddle and then lifted it up diagonally. A few drops of tea still dripping out onto the laptop as she was gently rubbing tissues on the keyboard in an attempt to dry it. After about half an hour and 100 tissues later the laptop seemed pretty dry. There was no more tea dripping out. The Dutch girl cleaned up the wet towel and all the tissues. Knowing there was probably still some tea inside the keyboard she put the laptop upside down again on a dry towel and left it like that for over 24 hours. Something she had read online, how ironically. 

A big dilemma was awaiting as the deadline for the project was only five days away and there was no spare laptop or other computer she could use. Panic and a feeling of worthlessness got the best of her and the smile that had appeared on her face seemed forever gone. Thoughts of the consequences of her failing this project started flying around in her mind. Only the worst versions got to her leaving a stream of tears behind as the got replaced with one that was even worse. The Dutch girl seemed broken, not able to see any light in this utter darkness of her failings and flaws as a human being. Long live the infinite stock of tissues. 

After hours had passed the poor Dutch girl got some of her broken pieces back together. Making her feel a bit hopeful again and as she got more hopeful she also gained some courage. This got her to remove the laptop from this unnatural upside down V shape and back onto her lap. No fluids around this time. Carefully she pressed the power button and her hopes got answered as the screen lit up and seemed to start up normally again. More of her despair faded as the home screen appeared and everything seemed to start normally. The Dutch girl got more and more relieved with every second.

The moment of truth was now finally there. As the tea had mostly fallen over her keyboard the big question remained. Will all the keys still work? The answer no. As she opened Microsoft Word, ready to try all the keys it happened. Dramatic music started playing in her head. What she had feared was now really happening. The screen froze and an absurd noise escaped from the laptop just before the screen went black. It was over. The laptop had given up, it was time for it to leave this planet and move on to a new place, a better place perhaps.

The broken laptop got taken away for physical examination before getting buried. The Dutch girl had no time to grieve. That stupid project still needed to get done. Still sad over the fact she had lost her loyal friend she called. Friends, Family members and with luck. Her aunt had an old laptop she could borrow. Never before was the Dutch girl so happy with a crappy piece of out of time technology. She didn't care about the laptop functioning super slow, the sound system not working and the fact that this old thing needed to be plugged in a charger constantly. There was new hope. Not for her old laptop but for herself. She was now able to finish the project and still hand it in on time. And so the Dutch girl and the old laptop lived a short happily ever after before this one got replaced by a new one.
THE END

ThatDutchGirl96