Busy Work

Nine hour shift. Over that nine hours, breaktimes added up to an hour and twenty minutes, the rest of that time was call after call after call. Absurdly busy. Service l;evels dropping 23 calls waiting, then end one call, that beeeeeeeep and another one begins Hello, you're through to Stuart, how can I help you this morning / afternoon / evening? Made the day so long, so very long, that when I left tonight, at 6:00pm, the morning seemed weeks ago.
At twilight James motioned me to look out of the window. A lone surfer on a grey and choppy sea, foamy danger, churning deeps. He didn't fall, just kind of balanced, though didn't manage to surf any waves. He looked set for that darkening horizon, shades of blue, I turned to take a call, and when I looked back he had gone, drowned or vanished, or reaching for that horizon in these suddenly winter-seeming nights.
Caught the bus.
My head was too jagged with calls to walk.