Setting me off like sparks

Her eyelids felt heavier than the current world champion in wrestling. Her head was perched on her arm, dangerously leaning too close to the left, about to fall off the unbalanced limb. The cries of the soft, plush pillows on the bed did not go unheard. She kept peeking at them through the corner of her eye, silently telling them that she did want to join them in holy matrimony, and soon. But as of now, she couldn't. She couldn't form a bond with the silky bedsheets and warm duvet. She couldn't let her body succumb to the sweet caress of a good night's sleep. There was just too much to do.

She gave herself the pleasure of closing her eyes for just a second. The danger of that action was apparent when she felt her brain give in to the familiar motions of falling asleep. Quickly, she blinked her eyes open again and lifted her head from her arm, giving her head a quick shake before focusing on the table before her. The huge stack of papers before her seemed to mock her tiredness and desire to go to bed. They seemed to have an endless supply as well, seemingly increasing in depth every time she picked up one sheet.

"Why did I have to choose this life?" She moaned quietly as she snatched another sheet of paper from the sheet with a little more force than was necessary. It wasn't her fault, really. She had two choices. A business degree and then being prepped to take over her father's laundry business, or an English degree and then a scholarship to do a course in teaching, subsequently working for a public school. She wanted to do the business degree. Her father was getting on with age and needed a successor quickly. However, with business profits slowly declining, along with her father's ability to move quickly and the emergence of those new automated dry-clean machines, they could not afford to send her to a good university to get a business degree worth doing. The English degree came attached with a scholarship and a guaranteed job after graduation. The choice became a lot easier to make.

She buried her face in her hands, secretly wishing the pile of papers on her desk would be gone when she reopened her eyes. No such luck. As the warm bed beckoned once more, she threw her hands up in frustration and let out a tired groan. She couldn't take it anymore, it was time for bed.