Sleepless

Day 2

"I finished everything, just need to read two more chapters" she says

The clock strikes 11 p.m.

that creature within her that makes her eyes fight against her will to keep reading, strikes again and wins the battle

She closes the book, lays her glasses on her nightstand.

She drags her feet to turn off the light.

She happily takes off the covers of her bed as she snuggles between the sheets.

With a smile, she closes her eyes.

Just when she is falling into the arms of sweet dreams and deep sleep,

She hears a haunting sound coming outside of her window,

It's a howl of despair mixed with a cry of frustration

She opens her eyes to pitch darkness, turns over to the side in fear

The howl becomes sorrowful, and louder. This time each howl ends with a high pitched cry of lament

The clock strikes 12, she pleads to herself, "please fall asleep, ignore the cry"

But herself is too scared at the moment to oblige her,

The howling sounds non human. It makes her insides twist.

She realizes her bed feels like she is laying on a cold marble stone.

She lays awake, glaring at the ceiling.

Part of her wishing she will never hear that howl again, and another part of her saying:

"I feel you, whoever you are, I feel your desperation. I feel your sorrow and I feel your frustration, because I too got something really valuable taken away from me. That something is my sleep"

She turns to the left, as she sighs in frustration.