"Collecting Oneself"

[Garnoopy 0]

Lieutenant Garnoopy

Personal Log Stardate 50305.17

“Collecting Oneself”

Log Series Part II

 

Garnoopy stepped into his office, his eyes shut, and listened to the silence as the doors slid closed and the sound of engineering disappeared.

 

Exhausted, he moved around his desk, and slumped into his office chair. The quiet confines of the small room were welcomed in comparison with the bustling loudness of main engineering, where repairs were proceeding.

 

He sat for a few moments, listening to the silence, letting his mind relax, take a breather. So much was going on, and yet so little time had passed.

 

Garnoopy bit his lip, and fought back another wave of emotion. He had to keep himself together, it was a challenge, but he could, and would do it.

 

Taking a deep breath, he clenched his fists, and then sat up in his chair, activating the desktop computer monitor.

 

On screen was a list of the repairs that needed to and were in progress of being worked on. His eyes looked over the list, but didn’t really read anything.

 

Tapping, Garnoopy brought up his personal message list, where over a dozen messages lay. Only one had been opened, the Priority One Communiqué from Starfleet Command. He hadn’t the heart to open the rest of them, he didn’t quite know if he could handle them.

 

Garnoopy maneuvered to open the message from Command, but paused as he was about to, his eyes looking at the screen, his face etched with sadness and pain.

 

He turned away from the monitor, shutting it down in one swift motion. The emotions he was handling didn’t want to read that message again. That one message. The rest of the mail could wait, none of it would make any difference.

 

Shoving himself up from his chair, Garnoopy took a deep breath, and pushed the wave of feelings he was feeling out of the way. This matter must wait.