51. Temptation

I was thinking about Austin, Quinn, and the Church of Middaymorrow when I walked into the break room at noon.  Only then did I remember I’d left my lunch sitting on the counter at home.  “I hate getting old,” I said to the Keurig coffee maker.  “Looks like it’s me and you and some donuts from the vending machine.”

I looked at the refrigerator.  There was nothing in there that belonged to me. Still, it couldn’t hurt to see what everyone else brought for lunch, I thought. My stomach growled at me. The refrigerator motor switched on, humming an invitation to just look. I could have sworn the Keurig’s power light winked.

In the old cartoons, a devil and an angel would have appeared on opposite shoulders.  Instead, in my personal cartoon, a 300 lb. version of me from my past, drinking alone on my bed in tighty-whiteys, said, ‘What the hell, it’s not like anyone’s gonna know you took their lunch.  Blame the intern.’ 

On the other shoulder, the weight–lifting version of me, ripped with washboard abs –it pays to have a vivid imagination – said, ‘Don’t look. Practice resisting temptation. Not giving into some minor temptation is like doing one more rep. Builds up your strength to resist the next temptation.’

I grabbed a cup of coffee and walked down the hall to the vending machine.

Today I will practice resisting temptation.

Time for a Change ©2017 by Ken Montrose

Time for a Change is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at: www.greenbriartraining.com