My eyes slowly began to  open as the sunlight peeked through the window of my small New York City apartment. After a moment of thinking I jolt upward in my bed and look at the time. Quarter to nine flashed on my alarm clock.

    “Holy cow!” Im late for work!” I muttered aloud.

I spring out of bed and dive into my closet to pick out the first thing I laid eyes on. I tamed my messy bed head by grabbing a random hat I found on the floor and slapped it on my head. I pulled the first two shoes out of the closet and ran to my front door. Before exiting the apartment, I looked to the left at the long mirror that I examine myself with every morning. My jaw dropped at the sight of the horrific sight that stood before me this morning. I looked like a hobo off the side of the street. My messy hair poked out of the baseball cap I wore on my head. A red wine stain spilled down the front of my white shirt. I had two completely different shoes on, and lipstick was smeared across the left side of my face.

    Just as I was about to turn back to create a more approachable look, my phone began to ring.

    “Hello?” I asked

    “Amanda, this is your boss. Do you have any idea what time it is?”

    “Yes, Mr. Morgan, I will be there very soon I have an explanation for everything,” I replied.

“Good. You better, because you have five minutes to get here!” he demanded before hanging up.  

Without time, I had no choice but to leave with my appearance as it was. I ran out the door and down the street. During the ride I knew I had to think of something good. I had to think of the most bizarre story Mr. Morgan has ever heard. If I did not, then I could kiss my job goodbye.

    After entering the building I hurried my way to the elevator so I did not have a bunch of judging eyes looking at me. Once I got to my floor, my boss was right in front waiting for me. He initially had a concerned look on his face until he saw my appearance. I could tell he was in shock just by the sight of me. He ushered me into his office.

    “I can not wait to hear this,” he said in a low voice.

    “So, I woke up early this morning, you see. I was well prepared until I decided to leave for work. On the way out the door, I tripped and fell down three flights of stairs, ruining my perfect bun, therefore ending up with messy hair. When I reached the bottom, this little boy in a wheelchair watched me fall and handed me his hat because he saw that my hair was a mess. I had to accept the hat. Then, as I was walking to my car an accident happens right in front of my apartment and a lady was gushing blood from her shoulder. That is how I got this stain on my shirt. But, I could not leave the lady there all by herself, so, I activated EMS and stayed with her. Then, the ambulance blocked my car so I could not get out, so I decided to walk to work. On the way there, I stepped in a huge puddle and got my left foot wet. So, I had to go buy another shoe. But I only had ten dollars on me so I could only buy the one shoe, but I did not need the other. I kept walking and all of a sudden the bus pulls up. I decided to hop on, but a lot of other people came on too and I became squished. When we were driving, the bus hit a pothole and my face smudged across the window smearing my lipstick. Finally, I arrived to work and here I am,” I explained to him. He looked at me for a moment before getting up. As he began to walk out of the office I coughed to get his attention. He stopped and looked back at me.

    “Get to work,” he proceeded as he continued to leave the office. Just as he left, he decided to peek his head in one last time and said, “Children in wheelchairs do not hang around stairways”.