i woke at an obscure hour. the room was dark with hints of electronic red lighting, and when i turned to glance outside the window, i was met by pitch black. i reached for my phone, but it was set to the american time, and i didn't have sufficient internet to search for the local clock. the person next to me lay sleeping, and although i felt that i should shut my eyes to match them and the rest of the city, i wasn't tired. as a child, i would have felt afraid and alone, but there was something so freeing about being awake at this hour. there were no obligations from anything or anyone, and no sensory to consume me which wasn't from my own mind. i felt airborne, as if i was floating in a realm of nothing, and my fondness for this serene sensation started to scare me a little.
