This is my 50th short story. This is a milestone for me. It is one quarter of my goal. So, it is special.

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It was that time of the day. The one she liked the most. She sat down on her bed with a warm cup of chamomile tea in her hand. Her favorite soothing music was playing in the background.

Could things ever be more peaceful than this?

She had made this a habit in the last year. She would prepare everything: the bed, the tea, the music. Then she would sit down and look into the empty space in front of her and just think. She would usually think about her feelings but occasionally she would reflect on the day that was just ending. Today was one such day because she had got angry many times and she did not like it. Today was far from her dream of leading a calm life.

The first time she got angry was when she missed her train to work because of the long line of people. The line would have proceeded faster if it was not for that woman who started arguing with an officer. She took longer and much fewer people were able to get to the train. The woman did, though.

Then, the train was going slower than usual because it was raining heavily. She became so anxious that she would be late that her anxiety turned into anger. But she could not yell on the train, so she bottled it up.

When she arrived at work, she was surprised to find out that her being late was not a big deal. Everybody minded their own business. That is when it hit her that she was being angry in vain. But then she learnt that the printer was broken and she needed to print some documents for the upcoming meeting in an hour. She got really angry but again, she bottled it up. Who could she shout at? The printer?

The printer did not get fixed but she was able to make her presentation in the meeting with the projection in the room. At the end, it did not matter at all whether she had printed the documents. Now, she felt pity for herself for getting angry so easily.

The meeting went well and she spent the rest of the day in her office, doing her work in her own pace. She relaxed. She did not get angry again.

Now that she thought about her day, how would it be different if she had not got angry at things that go unexpected? The next train was in 15 minutes, so it did not matter much if she had missed that one. The train was going slower but was in fact only 10 minutes late. Again, this did not make a lot of difference. She could have spent all that extra time enjoying her thoughts and maybe connecting with people instead of battling with anger. Same for the printer problem. Instead of waiting by the printer for an hour, she could have just gone out for a coffee with her friends or just enjoy the silence of her office.

Well, she had not done that but there was always a next time. Maybe she would do it then. With that hopeful thought in her mind, she put her head in her pillow and fell right asleep. Peace was all around. Anger was beaten.