Extension of Mind

Ripples

Sara awoke with a start, sending tiny tsunamis through their porcelain prison. Realizing she had fallen asleep in the bathtub, she frantically searched around her for the book she knew she had been reading. After a quick look she found it tucked safely onto the back of the toilet. With a sigh of relief she glanced at the clock on the wall in the hallway.

Four in the morning.

A small shudder ran down her spine as the chilled air licked at the water on her body and a feeling of defeat and exhaustion overcame her psyche. She sighed and reached for her towel. After drying and dressing in her customary comic book character pajama bottoms and camisole she threw herself face down onto the bed and breathed deeply and inhaled the familiar aroma of her perfume. Fruity but with a bit of sass she liked to call it. Sleep clung to her and she rubbed her face back and forth on the sheets in an attempt to get comfortable.

The fabric was scratchy and no matter how hard she tried she could not get cozy enough to drift into slumber. Why, oh why couldn't I have spent the extra 10 dollars and gotten the Egyptian cotton sheets? she wondered to herself. Vividly she remembered touching each one at the store. The polyester blend was a little scratchy by comparison, and the Egyptian cotton ones were on sale but 10 dollars is 10 dollars when you're broke, single, and living in the city on minimum wage. She recalled the luxurious sensation as she ran her hand over the Egyptian sheets at the store. With eyes closed she grabbed a fistful of her bed sheets and tried to imagine that they were as soft. Gradually, she thought she could feel the fabric change. The coarseness became smoother. The stiffness softened. Sleep consumed her.

Her alarm clock rang and Sara woefully slapped at the nightstand in a feeble attempt to prevent it from dislodging her from the dream world. After a few swings she sat up and opened her eyes. Bleary and still mostly asleep she picked it up and pressed the button that would allow her nine more minutes of peace. She yawned and stretched and looked at herself in the mirror on the back of her dresser. Her hair was a mess from not blow drying it before going to bed. Her eyes looked sunken. There were red pillow marks on her right cheek. 

I'm a disaster, she thought to herself.

She was about to look away and commence with her morning routine when she noticed something odd. Her bed sheets, once black, were now red. Confused, Sara looked at the patch of bed between her legs. Red. She looked behind her and with a flick, threw her comforter off the bed. Red everywhere. 

What the hell? she asked herself.

She ran her hand this way and that across the sheets and noticed a familiar sensation: Egyptian cotton.

Sara stood up quickly and paced her room. Her first thought was that she had gone sleepwalking in the middle of the night and must have stolen those sheets. That was it. She had been so exhausted and her mental state was so skewed from the thriller book that she became a criminal in her sleep.

She ripped the sheets off of her bed and stuffed them into the messenger bag she carried as a purse. She dressed quickly and ran to the bathroom to brush her hair and use the toilet. While feverishly working the tangles from her hair Sara noticed something small and brown on the wall in her bathtub. She set the brush down and turned to inspect it. Leaning in and squinting she realized it was...

A bug, she said. 

Sara made a yuck sound and then cursed about her dislike for all things creepy or crawly while reaching for a wad of toilet paper. After pulling off several feet, ensuring enough cushion to prevent that thing from actually touching her hand, she cautiously approached and slammed the clump of paper onto the bug.

Gotcha! she exclaimed.

She pulled the paper away and squeezed hard, trying to crush whatever insect she had seized. After she felt she had applied sufficient pressure she opened the bundle of paper to investigate what manner of creature had invaded her home. To her surprise she found the paper empty. She glanced back at the wall to find that the brown smudge remained. 

Sara leaned in close enough that her nose was nearly touching the wall. 

It can't be, she breathed and slowly lifted her finger. 

She looked horrified at her finger, then the spot on the wall before placing the two together. It was a perfect match. 

The events of the previous night suddenly came flooding back to her and an emotion she could scarcely describe washed over her. Fear, elation, confusion, and amazement gave way to epiphany. 

I can do these things with my mind, she whispered.

-------------------------

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this, please remember to vote and comment! If you didn't like it, tell me what you didn't. I'm always open to critiques!