FOR PENIEL

My alarm chimed repeatedly. A strong feeling of fatigue swarmed my body and I turned my back to the alarm and squeezed my pillow to my ear with one hand trying to swat the off button with the other. Finally I struck the snooze button then upon preparing to return to sleep I looked at my clock. 7:45 I read, then I looked towards my calendar adjacent to my bed. May 1, 1960. I  instantly recalled that I had a job interview at the U.S Embassy nearly thirty minutes away at 8:40. 

Upon recalling this I felt a sense of devastation and relief at the same time for I genuinely was glad I could remember I had the job interview though the devastation came from the fact that I felt exhausted and miserable. Despite this I got out of bed and began to get ready. No time to take a shower I brushed my teeth and shaved as quickly as I could in two minutes trying to save as much time as possible. The time now 7:50 I hurriedly ran to iron my shirt and put on my tie.

       I finally left the house at 7:55 darting to my car. Simply, I had no time to spare. I got on the road speeding just slightly. At every stop light I made an attempt to fix the minor details in my appearance that seemed flawed. I was on track to make it to the interview on time. 

I had extra time on my hands so I stopped at café arcangel a coffee shop to get café cubano. I rushed in and out of there and all my time management appeared to be practically perfect.  

The time now is 8:25 and I would still have plenty of time to get to the interview with about 8 minutes left in the drive. I turned on the radio hearing nothing but the usual weather and what teams would be playing. Then I heard the unthinkable. 

I switched the station to my favorite reporter, Ramon Carlota. He usually gave traffic details and I wanted to make sure I would get there on time. He said traffic was light so it should be like that for most of the day. Then suddenly his joyful speech turned negative. I heard him say the unthinkable. 

 “We are getting news of a U.S spy plane being shot down over U.S.S.R air space. Government officials ask for a shelter in place. All main roads will close. A time of relief is not yet known.”

My heart stopped. I thought about what would happen if I didn’t get to that interview. I Thought about whether they were going to let me reschedule. I considered what would happen if war started. all the possibilities flooded my mind and there was no embellishing that there was going to be consequences if I didn't get there on time.  With only 3 minutes to get to the interview I pulled off to the side of the road. I got out of my car and immediately the blazing afternoon sun hit my face.