Monotony

I close my eyes in an attempt to remember the dream I just woke up from. When nothing comes to mind and I can’t be bothered to think about it any further, I find myself staring at the same pale ceiling as usual. Convincing myself to get out of bed every morning has gotten more difficult recently, for some reason. While brushing my teeth, I speed through the keycards from last night’s revision and then make my way downstairs for ‘the most important meal of the day’. At least, that’s what I’ve always been told, but what exactly makes breakfast more important than other meals?

My parents and I greet each other, just as we usually do. My father is already raring to leave for work while my mother scurries to get his lunch ready before he does. Seemingly with one movement, he fits his lunch into his bag and waves as he heads for the door.

“Thanks, dear. See you later. Knock ‘em dead today, Ayato!”

There’s nothing special happening at school today, but he always has some catch phrase that’s meant to motivate me every day. I appreciate it though, especially since he tries to change it up each morning. It’s odd that my parents have always done their best to motivate me for school, but never once told me what I’m working towards. I’m still not sure of that myself. Obviously they are happy with the marks I’ve been getting all throughout high school, but I wonder how different they may have acted if I set the bar lower for myself to begin with.

After breakfast, I put on my coat and prepare to leave, calling out to my mother as I do every morning. She calls back, and I feel bad that everything has become such a routine that I don’t even properly register what she says. It’s probably something along the lines of “Have a good day, sweety!” or something equally motherly.

My route to school isn’t the arduous journey that my parents apparently had to undertake everyday, and fortunately the roads are never really bustling with life either. For a moment, my mind wanders to a certain part of the book I read last night, explaining how artificial intelligence programs are often given only one or two rules upon which the program teaches itself how to perform the task it is meant to. This has led me to wonder whether I might be able to create my own AI if I put some time into it. Unfortunately, right now, my time is practically monopolised by studying far more uninteresting things than AI and computers. After a while, I force myself to think back on the work we learnt yesterday in History, running through the dates in my head to make sure I can still remember them.

Man, why must high school be such a pain?