Sunlight danced around the window with faint tints of green from the leaves of a massive Sugar Maple tree outside. Bluebirds raced through the skies like a couple of fighter jets, zipping up and down all over the mild blue sky until settling onto one of the branches to rest, twittering.

It looked like a little Eden compared to what the student had on his side of the glass.

Sweat and body odor swamped the bedroom. He could feel the glasses begin to slip down his nose as he furiously typed up the conclusion paragraph.

A conclusion that could’ve made sense to anyone but folks his own age. There were momentary thoughts of worry over his diction having too much flair, but they didn’t last long…he just wanted to get this over and done with. Checking for grammar mistakes to find little, he felt pleased and downloaded the Google Doc into a pdf and dragged it to the submission box.

The moment the essay slid into the submission box, a strange relief washed over him. It was done. No more grammar checks, no more second-guessing. He leaned back in his chair, pushing his glasses up with a tired sigh.

Out the window, the bluebirds were still darting around in the sun, carefree. He, however, couldn’t shake the nagging thought that it wasn’t enough. That maybe he could’ve done better. His mind felt cluttered with doubts.

Shaking his head, he stood up and stretched. The room was messy, textbooks scattered across his desk, his bed unmade. The modern life promised efficiency, yet here he was, overwhelmed and unsure of everything.

His phone buzzed, another reminder of something he didn’t care about. He glanced at it, locked it back down, and walked out the door, needing a change of scenery...