One hi-lighter bright yellow, one lime green...a beige 'gabucha' (local term for a beanbag chair)...a steaming mug of espresso, high on caffeine...books and notes and jstor articles spewed about haphazardly...ms-word blinking on the computer screen, displaying unfinished sentences...a calculator waiting to be turned off...a metal lamp scorching hot from overuse...and just one weary person, stranded in the midst of it all...on an island where the calming blues of the ocean can not be seen no matter how far you run, where the beauty of a golden-orange horizon doesn't beckon you to let go of all worries and soar towards it...where sheer will-power is useless...where only caffiene can grant you a lifeline and spread its tingling warmth through your frazzled nerves and clear your mind, but only for a few hours at a time...

where life is a perpetual race against time in which the finish line is no longer in sight...

how much longer, God, how much longer?