Veridis Quo

Chapter 37 - Out With the Thirds, In With the Firsts

How did ancient people sleep? Without modern beddings and the glorious invention of the air conditioner, how did the civilizations of eras bygone rest comfortably? I was genuinely asking.

I wasn't trying to mock them either, I was simply ignorant of how the past operated. It was one thing to warm up during winter with igloos, burning debris, clothes from animal skins and furs, but the summer heat was brutal. Living on the coast had its advantages though it brought along a palette of issues that made my brain hurt; it was too early to raise questions that were destined to be forgotten in the next minute.

Even now, I no longer cared for the answer. Knowing the truth didn't affect my everyday life and wouldn't in a million years more.

Oops, there I went again, remembering.

How did I get here?

Time. It passed.

I...

Shit, it really was too early for this.

Just having woken up, I was splayed over my bed, staring at the dark ceiling without a spark in my eyes. If I thought hard enough, swirling, shifting shapes marked the surface of the concrete, an impressive trick of the light.

This was nice. I could stay like that for the whole day – as I'd done for the entirety of August.

...

Unfortunately, it wasn't one of those days.

Sucking on my inner cheek, I pushed the blanket off of me, half-crawling to the nightstand in search of the annoyance that started all of this.

A fly that invaded my domicile.

Bzzz...

A bee that mistook my abode for its own.

Bzzz...

A timer that needed to be put in its place.

Bzzz...

Once I was close to the edge of the mattress, I raised a menacing hand, threatening to squash the flat triangle under a devastating impact!

Bzzz...

Gently touching the surface with an index, I swiped to the left.

Bzz-...

...

...

...

„Hmm... sweet..."

All of a sudden, the embrace of the bed improved by a longshot. The soft fabrics hugged my body, lulling me back into slumber. The cool air blew on the exposed parts of my skin, soothing aches that never were.

Well, I could close my eyes for a minute, it wouldn't hurt-

„No!" I exclaimed, slapping myself on the cheek.

It was a trap! A fatal mistake too common! A blink was all it took to skip an hour forward and ruin my first day of school!

Correction, my first day back to school.

Throwing off the covers entirely, I shivered a bit before patting the nightstand for the remote. Once my hand found the device, I switched the mode to ventilation to gradually warm the room. The cold made me sleepier, winter's was for free.

I took a deep breath, stretching my torso to the max and groaning while releasing. Then, I yawned regardless.

I was delaying the inevitable. I had enough of that.