The Couch

"Yeah mom I had lunch." She didn't.
"No, I am leaving for work again." She was.
 "Yeah, everything is fine. Don't worry. I am happy." She isn't. She was crying when she sat on me the other day. She rested her head on my chest and cried her eyes out wetting my cover. I just wanted to comfort her and hug her with my soft arms but alas I am not alive. I never have been.

She quickly grabbed her purse and an empty coffee cup in her hand and went out while talking to her mom on the phone. I like her. She is better than any other owner I ever had. She kept me clean, she dusted me once in every three days, she put a cover on me to keep me from getting dirty and she changed them every now and then. I like her but I knew she wasn't happy. In fact, I have never seen any human happy. She kept me facing the window and it was a good pass time while she was away. People hustled to their jobs or schools and most of them looked unhappy with the way things were for them and I don't blame them but I can't favor them either. It's really confusing, you know? Being human, that is. They have so many complicated emotions and reasons to do something and they regret it later. Everyone hates the reality they are in but go along with it anyway. They have to earn money to be happy, to stay at par with the 'friends' they have, to keep their loved ones happy; but most importantly, to keep breathing; to stay alive.

I witness her everyday. She has a lot going on and I can only imagine how she must be holding herself together. She has been at her job for a long time and as she puts it in her messages, she is not getting anything out of it. It's the same work over and over and over again. I don't even remember the last time she took a vacation. Her family is going through a rough time with her parents fighting all the time and her sister moving to another country for further studies. Her boyfriend is well, in absence of a better word, a jerk. She is amazing but her taste in men is disgusting. She ignores red flags like people ignore Microsoft system update notifications. It's not like she can't see his flaws but I think she is just afraid of being alone. 

I have seen her progress. I have seen her failing and getting back up again with a different plan. Even though she thinks that she is going nowhere, I have seen her progress. Whenever she hits a bump on the road, she cries, she screams, she punches me and she sleeps on me. When she wakes up with puffed eyes, she has this new determination in her to makes things better; to move ahead and keep living no matter how hard things get. She wants to become a writer and travel the world, meet new people and bond with them; know about their cultures and their experiences; something I read in her digital journal and judging by her family and her conditions, I know she won't be able to do that. Not that she doesn't have any talent, she does. It's just, her family won't be happy with it and she is devoted to them.

I have no idea how she does this every day. You know, waking up. She wakes up every morning even though she knows she is going to hate every second of it. I could never do that if I were her. I heard the front door open and she entered and dropped her purse on the ground. She stared at nothing in particular before running towards me and snuggling in me. I felt a tear roll down her cheek and I mumbled soothing words to her. I know she won't hear it but I also know she doesn't need it. She will be fine. She is stronger than anyone I have ever observed.