Morning Briefing, James Patterson Style

Ringggggg. Rinnngggggg.

“Whoever thought those double-bell alarm clocks were whimsical had obviously never been woken up at 5:30 a.m. by one,” Jessie thought as she reached over her bulldog to turn off the alarm.

Daisy, her puppy and partner in crime, didn’t even wake to the alarm and continued snoring on the pillow beside her.

The holiday season was gearing up meaning early mornings and late nights for the website editor. The sleepy  is buzzing with kids getting ready for Santa and adults getting ready for the 

Jessie never understood the big deal behind what day you drank. She was raised in the church and had never been drunk, but still didn’t understand why drinking on a Sunday was so much worse. She rarely drank and would probably stop all together now that the ordinance was in place. It was like Chik-fil-A—something you only wanted on Sundays because you couldn’t have it.

Today would be another set of stories focusing on alcohol. A new liquor license had been granted the night before at the city council meeting.

Scenes from the 
“That greedy son-of-a-gun” an older man yelled at the council when they approved the liquor license. Another older woman had looked her square in the eye and said, “It’s disgusting.”

She knew they were mad at the time, but there’s something so charming about the situation. The sweet people of sleepy Holly Springs all coming together to protest an alcohol store because it fell too close to a 

Her feet hit the floor and habitually went straight to the coffee maker. Jessie was testing out something new on her website today—something nerve-wracking to say the least—an on-screen cooking segment.

First of all, she wasn’t an on-screen kind of girl. Second, she can’t cook.

The push to make a more personal site and to get the praise of her boss and the higher-ups made taking risks worth the potential failure. She had written a lot of stories that failed and was still hoping for that one feature that would attract the comments and engagement that she needed.

Every morning after the coffee was made, Jessie let Daisy out on the porch to sunbathe. It still wasn’t cold. It felt more like September than it did November.

“Stupid Georgia weather,” she thought. “You’re not supposed to be able to wear shorts on Thanksgiving.”

The high was set for 75 degrees that day with a 90 percent chance of rain.

Rain, finally. A sinus headache had made working miserable the past few days. And Benadryl, her only vice, made her immediately go to sleep.

“Sleep would be nice right now,” she thought. “I hope the readers don’t mind these dark circles under my eyes when I shoot that video.”

She came back inside to get ready for the day. Would the quiet town of Holly Springs see any drama today? Only time would tell.