Pouring herself a cup of coffee, she sat at the newly varnished oak table, caressing its smooth finish. John had done a wonderful job with restoration and the house was really turning out just the way they had imagined. Yes, it was expensive, tiring, and time-consuming, but it was all worth it, she kept telling herself. They had been dreaming of living at the foothill of the Rockies for almost more than a decade and now, here they were finally.

 The alarm wasn’t supposed to go off yet. It was exactly 3:33 a.m. again, and this was taking a toll on Jeannie’s health. She hadn’t slept well in weeks. The sound of the alarm did not awaken John, nor anyone else. Jeannie had taken the time to check out the alarm clock once or twice, however couldn’t find anything wrong with it. She told herself she couldn’t find any good reason it went off every night when it did. Exhausted, she sat at the kitchen table, drinking her coffee and hoping it would be enough to get her through the day. She had to be at work in an hour and thanked God that John would be taking the kids to school, unburdening her of that. Sleepy as she was, she rested her cheek on the cool surface of the table. She loved the smell of the varnish and she hoped she wouldn’t doze off.