Two Comets, One Sky

Two Comets, One Sky

Chapter 1
Imagine finally going to bed after a long day at school. You get nice and comfortable in your pajamas and slide under the covers, only to never fall asleep. I’ve tried everything, trust me. More layers, fewer layers, camomille, tea, warm milk, and a hot massage towel. Nothing. I’ve dealt with this for the past miserable seven years of my life. It’s like the second I crawl into bed, someone presses the replay button. At first, I would spend my nights on my phone, watching videos, reading the news, etc. But since then, I’ve learned that the blue light emitted by one’s phone can be harmful, especially at night. It restrains the production of melatonin, a hormone your brain releases to commence your sleep cycle. I’ve been going to see many doctors during these last seven years with my older sister. They’ve all told me the same exact thing. A lack of melatonin released at night is most likely caused by stress, trauma, and depression. I think in my case, all three of those factors are in play.

Chapter 2
My name is Kristian, I’m in my last year of high school, and I suffer from insomnia. I live in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland. When I was ten, both my parents passed away. Luckily for me, I had an older sister take care of me, and our grandparents weren’t too far away. They now live a calming life in a retirement home with some of their friends. Our late April break just finished (it’s just a week off at the end of April), and in a few hours, I’ll have to get dressed to start my walk to school. My older sister just finished her courses to become a pilot, a much-needed job here in Iceland. The only problem is that she already told me that in a few days, she'll be leaving for Spain to get some pilot training. It is currently around two in the morning. It’s at this time that I start my ritual of bringing out my telescope, leaning it on my wall, and trying to enjoy the magical night sky. On nights like these, I sometimes wonder if my insomnia was a blessing more than it was a curse. The infinitely dark night sky seemed lightly painted with little, white, shiny dots. They were stars, just like our beloved sun, but billions, if not trillions of kilometers away. Even so, they lit up the heavens. When I got bored of stargazing, I picked up a book to read or took a piece of paper to draw on. On certain nights, when I was really defeated, I would just lay in bed, like a dying animal waiting to be put out of his misery. And as I would start to think that my time was up, that my pain and suffering would finally end, when my alarm clock would go off again, like every morning, at six thirty. My school doesn’t have any uniforms, so I get dressed based on the weather. A cloudy day like today calls for a warm hoodie and a nice pair of jeans. I use the walk to school as a warm-up session. I speed walk, jog a little bit, and stretch my arms and neck. My first class of the day was math, we have an exam coming up next week so the teacher left us a period to do some exercises, in other words, it’s an hour for me to go to the back of the class and try to sleep. First classes aren’t usually this good. The rest of the morning goes smoothly as usual. The last bell of the morning rings, and I leave the class in a hurry to go eat my lunch. My school has a very nice indoor garden. It’s filled with small trees and small wild plants mostly found here in Iceland. I use this time to once again try to fall asleep. Sometimes I read, but that’s about it. School ends at three in the afternoon. I have very few friends, so ninety percent of the time, I walk back home alone. My sister has the rest of the week off before she leaves for Spain. Once I get home, I do some homework when I feel like it. At this point, I already got accepted to a higher school, so I just need to pass the year. Once the six o’clock bell rings from the local church, it’s the sign for supper time. After that, I complete any school work or project left. At nine, I wash up and prepare myself mentally for another sleepless night. That same night, I was studying for an upcoming science exam out of complete boredom when my phone received a notification. It was now Tuesday, and it was the anniversary of my parent’s death.

Chapter 3
I must have stared at my phone for a good twenty minutes. The phone screen had turned off, and so did the one on my computer. I was engulfed in a new dimension. I was completely oblivious to the world around me. All I could think about was the day my sister and I received the news of their death. I remember being at my grandmother’s house and seeing my grandpa walk through the door with a limp as if he had just fought a ghost. His hands were trembling, he was breathing too fast and his glasses were fogging up. We all rushed to help him. He gingerly told my grandma the news. She then, in tears, told me and my sister that my parents had passed away. My sister started crying, she ran into the bathroom and locked herself there until dinner time. I just stood there, like a tree. My grandparents thought I was an emotionless robot. But in reality, my brain was running at a million kilometers an hour trying to process the terrible news. I held my tears. I held strong until my little heart couldn't take it any more. I blew up in tears and ran into my grandmother’s arms. After this flashback, I was brought back to my senses. I felt something running down my face. It felt fresh. I pass my finger under my eyes. I stared like a zombie, at my finger soaked in tears. I slowly walk to the bathroom to wash my face. I then looked at myself dead in the eyes through the mirror. What was I looking at? A kid? A man? No, all those were wrong. I was looking at a mess, my mess. The culmination of my past and present. An unstable mixture of insomnia and emotions. I needed to bring my life back together. I needed something inside of me to change. I needed a purpose in life. I need a goal to reach and a life to fulfill. I went back to bed to try to get some rest as I had a big day ahead. From nine to eleven in the morning, I had a chemistry exam. The only good thing I could think of at that moment was that once the exam was over, they would let us go back home. Like clockwork, my alarm went off at six thirty. I went down to the kitchen to make myself breakfast, but my sister beat me to it.
-Anna «Good morning Kristian, scrambled eggs? The neighbors just gave them to me from their farm.»
-Kristian «Sure whatever.»
-Anna «I heard you have a chemistry exam that ends at eleven?»
-Kristian «Yeah, that’s right. I’m not coming back home straight away. I’m thinking of stopping to get something to eat at a sandwich joint in the new outlets they built close to school.»
-Anna «That’s fine with me. Just be careful and make sure you don’t forget your money because I won't be home today.»
-Kristian «How come?»
-Anna «I have a meeting with my boss for my trip to Spain. She texted me this morning saying that they got tickets for business class for Saturday.»
She gave me my scrambled eggs with some nice toast coated in butter. I then headed back to my room to read my notes and wash up.  I left my house to start my walk to school. I checked my phone, it was eight-fifteen. I had to hurry.