Desi curled up into a ball on the field, smiling as she took another deep breath. This was the best nap ever. It had been a while since she had gotten to lie in a meadow like the one she was in now, the mix of flowers all around her producing a fragrance she could only describe as heavenly. 

Just when she thought it couldn’t get any better, she started to hear the faint sound of bells. They sounded so musical, like the milk delivery bells she had seen in some old movies, and she wished for a moment that she was in an old movie. The ringing started to get louder, and she frowned, puzzled. She had been in the meadow alone, and no one was supposed to know she was here. The ringing became insistent, almost as though the bell was directly in her ears. She squeezed her eyes shut tighter, willing it to go away, but it just got louder and more annoying.

Desi woke up with a start, raising her head to stare down at her ringing phone.

“Ugh, what now?” she groaned as she saw the name on the screen. It was her boss, calling to rant again, no doubt. He had developed a dislike for her work recently that bordered on abhorrence, and she didn’t understand why. She would admit she had started lacking inspiration recently, and she needed some sort of stimulus to help her up her game, but she was also very talented, which made her sure that she wasn’t so bad, even on her worst days.

She realised she had just spent the last ten or so rings staring at the screen. After careful consideration, she decided 7 am was not too early for her boss to call her and accepted the call. If only to stop the consistent ringing.

“Desi, what exactly is your problem?!” he bellowed before she had a chance to speak.

“Good morning, Mr. T,” she said without pause. She was so used to this, she would have been shocked if he spoke calmly.

“Maybe it’s a good morning for you, Desi, but it shouldn’t be. I swear it shouldn’t”

“What happened?” she responded calmly, getting out of bed and going straight to the small kitchen counter in her tiny one-bedroom home.

“How could you use watermarked images in the design for a client? Are you insane?!”

“What?!” she spat out the water she had just started drinking and hobbled over the random items from clothes to shoes, books, and small dumbbells on the floor, to her desk. Her laptop was still open from the night before when she had sleepily sent the designs to Mr. Taye (Mr. T. for short - it was everyone's respectful nickname for him for as long as Desi could remember). Placing the call on speakerphone, she quickly opened her email to check, sure he was lying. There was no way she did that. The document was loading now, and she clasped her fingers together, praying that he was lying, but even before she saw the images, she knew he wasn’t.

The memories from the night before came rushing to her. She had developed a crazy headache and downloaded the image without paying for it. It was such a rookie mistake, and she couldn’t believe she was making it after 5 years as a graphic designer.

“I’m so sorry, sir. I’ve just sent you the proper design. That was what I intended to send, I must have switched it out.” She speedily downloaded the right image while talking and sent it to him within a few minutes. 

Breathing a huge sigh of relief, she made to stand up when the computer notification sound rang out. It was an email from Mr. T.

“Oh gosh. Oh no, he didn’t.” Or did he? Did he fire her? He wouldn’t do that after all the years of great work she put into the company, would he? She opened the mail with trembling fingers, expecting the worst, but almost immediately froze at the message on her screen.

It was a flyer for a designer camp for beginners with the message “You’re attending this. You need to relearn the basics. Don’t say no or you’re fired.”

She heaved a huge sigh of relief. That wasn’t so bad. Sure, it was somewhat humiliating to attend design camp for beginners after all her years of work, but it was better than being fired. Her eyes tracked across the flyer again and landed on the date. 

She had three days to prepare. That was enough time.