She fought to open her eyes because she knew it was too early to be awake. For two weeks, every night, without fail, she had woken up at 3:30. She sighed, knowing that there was no choice. She gave in and got out of her warm bed. She wandered to the kitchen, feeling the cold tiles underneath her naked feet. Something about that was comforting or at least, it was pleasant. She opened the cupboard, took a glass, then she opened the faucet and filled it with cold water. She brought the glass to her lips and drank. She didn’t gulp the water down; she enjoyed every sip of it, feeling it refreshing her body. She thought of it as “conscious drinking”. Before her thoughts could drift off to the absurd, she decided it was best not to think or have new thoughts. She yawned, setting the glass in the sink, briefly beginning to think why she didn’t put it in the dishwasher, but as with every other thought at night, she tried to push it away. If she allowed one thought, she knew she would begin to overthink and her night would be over. She scratched her thigh and without haste, she trudged back to her bedroom. She looked at her phone where she saw a couple of notifications, she ignored them all and opened the messaging app. “I am up” she wrote. Not waiting for a reply the put the phone down again. She grabbed one of her two pillows, turned to her stomach and got into her sleeping position. She began counting. It was odd, but it always helped her to fall asleep. 3:50. She saw the yellow digits of her alarm clock and drifted away. Like every night, without fail, for two weeks straight.
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299 words – 10 minutes
reflections of an unquiet mind 