He wakes up the next day

The thunderstorm had subsided when he opened his eyes. He could see a bright light shining through his window. He must have been for the entire night. Still a bit light-headed, he got up from the floor and almost fell down again. He steadied himself against the wall, and tried to focus on his surroundings. There was glass everywhere, as the window had been shattered in the strike. Laid out in the mess was is computer, torn apart by the of nature.

Richard broke down to cry and fell to his knees. That computer was his everything. It was his life. What was he going to do without it?

Suddenly the alarm clock started blaring and it woke Richard from his emotional breakdown. The clock hands pointed to quarter to eight, which meant he'd almost be late to school. With no time to spare, he quickly pulled up his pants and ran towards the bathroom. In the mirror he could see a small wound to the side of his head, so he washed the blood away and got a band-aid to cover the cut. He quickly brushed his teeth, did his hair a bit and ran towards the front door, only to be stopped in his tracks by his step-mother.

'Late for school are we?' she sneered. 'Don't think I didn't hear you again last night. Going at it, so late. You should be ashamed.'

'I'm sorry, Yolanda,' he mustered through gritted teeth. 'But please, I'm already late. Could you please forget it? For one day?'

Yolanda looked at him, her eyes becoming glazed. Then as if suddenly woken from a trance, she yelled: 'What are you doing here? Get out! Go to school!'

She stepped out of the way to let him through, and Richard - not believing his luck - bursted through the front door. He raced as fast as he dared on his gravel-bike towards school. Arriving late was one of the worst offenses because of Mr. Zimmerman, the school secretary. He always made people stay an hour after school if they were late, even if it was only a minute.