The Red Bird

Chapter 7-The Red Bird Is Sleep Deprived

(And Probably Hallucinating At Some Point)

I wake up on the couch, this time without having a nightmare first. I blink away the sleepiness and sit up, yawning and stretching. I look over to find Scott crashed on the armrest.

I get up quietly and make my way to the kitchen, realizing that I'm starving.

I make myself a grilled cheese (and by 'make myself', I mean I push a button on the big screen in the kitchen and a grilled cheese pops out of a hatch in the wall) and I eat it at the counter, staring at the TV, even though it's off. I think I'm paranoid that it's going to randomly turn on like it did in my dream last night. Well, not exactly last night... It's night right now... I really need to stop falling asleep at random times. I don't even know what year it is anymore.

I make my way to the stairs and debate going up and seeing if anyone else is here.

I go against it, reasoning that I'd probably end up falling down the stairs and just decide to watch some TV.

I sit on the couch and turn it on. It goes to the 'reality' show about ModrnTech. I watch it; my eyes probably glaze over as I do.

I get so into it, I don't notice Scott sit up next to me.

At some point I look over and let out a screech before falling off the couch.

Scott must still be half asleep, as he also screams and jumps back. He doesn't have a lot of space to jump back to though, so he also falls off the couch.

I just sit on the floor for a while, not really sure how to deal with a not-fully-awake Scott.

I look over and see him slowly peeking over the arm of the couch. I stifle a giggle and shake my head. He flips himself over the arm and sits above me, looking down. I meet his eyes and he smiles. I think he finally woke up.

"Morning!" he says groggily, with a major voice crack to top it all off. Maybe he's not awake.

"I'm pretty sure it's still midnight, my dear," I say. Maybe I'm not awake either... Why on earth did I say 'my dear'? Who does that?!

He just sits there and stares at me, now looking really confused. "But I thought..."

"Look at the clock," I say, motioning to the neon blue illuminated clock in the kitchen.

He looks over and stares at the clock for a moment before turning back to me. "I guess you're right..."

"I'm always right," I reply. Am I possessed or something? I feel like I'd never say this kind of stuff. Or maybe I'm just sleep deprived... Although you'd think I'd be fine with all these naps I've been taking lately...

He leans back against the couch and starts watching the show.

After the first episode, his breathing becomes heavy and I realize that he fell asleep. I turn off the TV and the room becomes enveloped in darkness, besides the random things that are lit up, like the clock.

For whatever reason, I suddenly feel like going for a walk outside. I carefully open the front door, careful not to make a lot of noise. I turn into a cat and start my walk.

I make my way to the pond I was at yesterday (or whatever day that was) and sit at the edge, staring at the dark blue water. The moon reflects off the surface and dances in the little ripples the wind makes in the water. I sigh deeply and close my eyes, basking in the serenity of the pond. 

I'm quickly taken out of my trance by a loud splash. My eyes open widely and I scowl at the large ripples moving towards me at the other end of the pond. Whatever fell in must have been pretty large to make that loud noise...