[ WP ] Make the act of watching paint dry into the most compelling story conceivable .

I feel completely rested, I ca n't remember the last time I slept that well. Today is going to be a great day. 
 
 I roll over in bed and check my alarm clock, expecting it to beep any moment. My whole world goes upside down when I see the blinking 12:00. The power went out, I've overslept. Im going to be late. I'd rather die than be late today. 
 
 I'm out of bed with a thunk on the floor, there is no breakfast today, no shower, I do n't have time to check my e-mail. I need to get dressed, need to leave. If I'm late, I'm dead. And not in just a figurative way; they will literally kill me for being late today. 
 
 This day of all days, why did I have to oversleep. 
 
 I'm out of the house in 8 minutes wearing yesterdays outfit from the laundry basket. No one cares what you are wearing, only that you are there today. And I'm not there....I'm so dead. 
 
 I'm easily doubling the speed limit in my little convertible, there are no other cars on the road, everyone's already there. To be here is unacceptable, to be there is godly. I want to walk hand in hand with my people and see the face of god, but I'm here and not there....I'm so dead. 
 
 I come up on the exit, I can make out the structure from the highway. It's so much bigger than I ever imagined. I can see the cars and the people there as little specks in the distance. The field in front of the structure is full of people, they are all there, and I'm still here. 
 
 I'm really flying now, easily going 100mph, I'm only a few miles away from the structure now. I'm hitting people now, other stragglers like me who did n't bother to drive, who barely bothered to dress themselves, they are running in the middle of the road to get there, to the structure. I'm killing dozens of people now, and it does n't matter, they are already dead. To be here and not there is to die. I do n't want to die, I have to be there. 
 
 I drive as close as I can before ditching out of the moving vehicle at about 20 mph, there is no use in parking, the car is meaningless now. I'm here, I can see it now. I heard it was going to be finished yesterday and that today was the final most important touch. The most amazing part of building any structure, the coating of fresh, pure, paint had been applied in the wee hours this morning. I could still smell the acrid smell of it, still see the rolling drops of it... fresh paint before it dried... how could you be anywhere else? 
 
 I'm there now, there is here, and here is where everyone else is. We are all looking at the same thing, to miss out on this sight would be unbearable. To be anywhere but here would be unfathomable, to be there, that is, here, is to be truly alive. I ca n't break my gaze, everyone else goes out of focus. I look up at the freshly painted building, it is magnificently white and is godlike in its purity....it's so beautiful.
