Storybook

This is a snapshot story from a storybook that contains clinical presentations of various mental disorders. The characters present maladaptive (and adaptive) psychological features that are associated with their disorders.
This particular story is about Hoarding Disorder.

“Horus, are you going to tell me what are we gonna do about this?” Sara asked Horus, pointing towards a pile of empty packs of cigarettes and matchboxes right underneath his desk.

Horus sighed.

Sara was an attorney and Horus was her assistant. She was not the only one who had noted the cigarette packs gathering at the foot of the desk. The cleaning lady had often brought this up, asking for Horus to dump this extra trash.

Horus had started gathering the cigarette packs for months. He had had a constant habit of misplacing his ashtray, and he found the empty boxes to be more convenient, as he had a lot of them and well – he did not have to deal with the excess ash and cigarette butts lying around his cubicle.

“Sara, I’ll get this mess away. First thing in the morning. I promise!”

This was also not the first time Horus had promised this. But this promise was never really fulfilled. He had tried to bring himself to do away the boxes.

 It was just that they were convenient to use as ‘trashcans’ and containers to hide his lighters in. Plus, it seemed like a huge hassle to do away with such a large number boxes. He had lost track of what he had hidden in each box. But they were there when he had misplaced his lighters too. He could just pop a few of them open, and usually he’d find a half-usable lighter.

It’s not like he had not tried to get rid of the mess. Sara had once forced the cleaning lady to take out every box littered in the cubicle. Horus did not like it. He did not know where he could hide his lighters or even the change that the clients would give him as tips – other than in the cigarette boxes. His pockets and his bag always seemed too full.

Nevertheless, Sara was not going to wait around for Horus to keep on putting off this issue. Many clients had complained about the smell of stale cigarettes that emanated from the pile of trash.

Moreover, some had even tried to get away from the cubicle as soon as possible, preferring to delay or call off the meetings than to stay.

While Horus had been a diligent paralegal, his habits were now causing their office more harm than good. He was aware that Sara seemed to have an issue with it, but no client had directly told him that there was a problem with his office.

Plus, Horus felt that the work was too consuming and the boxes to convenient for him to just discard them. Rather, the pile was actually a source of comfort that he would always his essentials with him. No issues with the lighters, change or ash flying around as long as the boxes were around.

When Sara had the cubicle cleaned the next morning, Horus felt as if his privacy was invaded. Moreover, he was now unable to find his lighter as he sat down, cigarette between his teeth.

So, he brought out an empty cigarette box from his bag and took out an older lighter from it.

He could not foreshadow that Sara was going to fire him the next month over a new pile of cigarette boxes.