The Miracle Place

12.

{Jane}

JANE WAS SHOCKED at how tired she'd become. She hadn't made it longer than thirty minutes into the movie before she was out. The parts of the movie she had seen, she didn't have the energy to understand. She remembered falling asleep, and she remembered being carried to bed. However, she didn't remember being tired then. She just couldn't keep her eyes open. Perhaps it was her body trying to make up for fourteen years worth of sleep deprivation.

Jane slept well that night. No nightmares or restlessness. In fact, her night of uninterrupted sleep consisted of nothing at all, and that unsettled her. She was used to seeing something, having something to watch, whether it was a memory or a stressful encounter with a demon. But it was just dark. Dark and quiet, two things Jane feared the most.

When she walked into the kitchen, she was met with a lively Billy standing at the stove, humming along to the stereo playing softly in the background. Jane glanced at the digital clock on the microwave. It read 8:52. She looked between Billy and the clock wondering first, how long he'd been up for, and second, how he was so awake and giddy so early in the morning. She sat down at the table quietly, not wanting to disturb him, but mostly so she wouldn't scare him into stopping his very entertaining dance.

Her cover was blown when Joel stumbled into the kitchen. "Good morning," he grumbled, "what time is it?"

Billy turned around, the cloth on his shoulder nearly swinging off. "Morning, sunshine! It is exactly nine o'clock- woah! When did you get here?" He jumped the second he saw Jane.

She shrugged with a mischievous smile. "Few minutes ago."

"Well, good morning to you both." He said, unbothered by the audience. He went right back to humming and flipping pancakes while Joel took a seat next to Jane.

"Why are you in such a good mood this morning?" Joel asked through a yawn. Jane bit back a giggle at his state. His hair was sticking up in different directions, and his eyes were only half open. She guessed she didn't look much better.

Billy plated the pancakes. "I'm just happy, is all." He shrugged. "You, however, are looking a little grumpy."

Joel nodded. "Just didn't sleep well. Forgot how fu-freaking annoying those beds are," he huffed, "Can't move without the squeaking waking you up. What about you, Jane? How'd you sleep, you seemed really tired yesterday?" She saw Billy smile fondly at the counter.

"I slept fine." She shrugged. "I don't know, really. It's hard to tell, I didn't have a dream."

Billy frowned. "Not even...? Huh, I guess that is strange."

Joel looked more awake now, and engaged in the new topic. "Well, sometimes that just means you're catching up on sleep. Does this happen a lot?"

Jane shook her head. "Never."

"Never? Well then, you have nothing to worry about," he assured her. "But if this keeps happening, let us know, okay?"

Jane nodded. "Okay. Thanks, I was starting to think it meant I was dying."

Billy laughed. "You're not dying, Jane." He brought the pancakes to the table with syrup and canned peaches. "Well, that won't kill you, but these might. The eggs were in the fridge, and the expiration date was yesterday, but I'm sure they're fine." He sat down at the head of the table. "Bon appetit!"

About halfway through finishing her pancakes, Jane's head began to hurt. Jane had suffered many bad headaches in her life, so this didn't really bother her. She just leaned her head on her hand and shut her eyes for a few seconds, not wanting to draw attention to herself. But apparently, it did just that.