“Hey, I need you to work on your report.”

“What report?” I asked my mom carelessly, my eyes still glued to the T.V.

“That English report that’s due tomorrow? You know, the one where you have to write about the book Lost at Sea.”

“Oh, yeah, that one!”

“Yeah, you need to start on it now,” she said as she made her way through the chip bags, candy wrappers, DVD cases, pillows and blankets that littered the floor, which we liked to call out living room, and turned off the T.V. with a swipe of her hand.

I groaned loudly. “Now?” I asked, disappointed that I couldn’t finish the rest of the movie I was watching.

“Yes, now.” She looked around the room, and her hazel eyes grew big, as if she had actually seen it for the first time. “And when you’re done, you’re going to be spending the rest of the day picking up this mess!” she constructed firmly.

I got up slowly off the couch and began walking down the basement steps without a word.

As I sat down in front of the computer, I got a chill from the coldness.

“Why does the computer have to be down in the basement?” I muttered to myself.

I clicked on the mouse, and almost instantly the computer booted up and I clicked into Microsoft Word. The same blank image popped onto the screen, and I reluctantly began to start typing.

Lost at Sea was interesting. I typed. I liked the character Marcie the best because she was very outgoing.

I stopped typing and reread what I had. “So far, my report is boring,” I said to myself. “But, Mr. Berry didn’t say anything about being creative, so I’m doing a good job!”

I continued to type, and before I knew it, I was done! “Yes!” I cried, and pumped my fists in the air. “My report is done!”

I clicked on the print button, but nothing happened. I tried turning on the printer, but it wouldn’t. I sat there, gaping at the printer, and then at the report typed on the computer. I couldn’t believe that after taking my time on typing the report, I couldn’t print.

Mad, I pulled out a clean sheet of paper and began to write my report down.

I didn’t do anything with the printer, since I knew it wouldn’t work anyways and would just take up time, so I continued to write. All I did was concentrate on getting my report done.