Hourglass

2.

I woke up to the smell of fire.

The woke up to sound of crackling fire and a sent that burned my throat. I opened my eyes to see darkness at first, but my vision slowly cleared up. I could just make out the silhouette of a boy. It was Connor, I think. Who else would it be? I could also make out a faint red glow. It was dark everywhere else. Is it night?
Connor turned to face me. He spoke in a hushed voice, "your awake. How'd you sleep?"

     "Fine... what time is it?"

      "I don't know. But if I had to guess, probably about ten."

     I nodded and sat by the fire feeling how cold my fingertips were. I had a throbbing headache from fall yesterday, and the sudden bright light of the fire made it five times worse. We didn't make eye contact for a straight thirty or so minutes, until Connor broke the silence with a slow hum. It was a lullaby that my mother sang to my twin and I. I sat on a small rock listening for a few minutes.
     "....Ninety years without slumbering
Tick, tock, tick, tock,
     His life seconds numbering,
Tick, tock, tick, tock
     It stopp'd short, Never to go again
When the old man died...."

    He finished the song and stood up. I stood up and followed him into a small cave opening. We found a flat spot in the gravel-dirt and laid down. It was cold, there's no doubt about it. I wore my coat tightly around my body and zipped my arms in with it.
     Connor fell asleep with no problem. I laid peacefully for a few minutes, listening to the soft sounds cicadas, and the occasional water droplets falling from the cave ceiling before gradually falling asleep.
     The night was unbearably cold. I got little to no sleep. Connor on the other hand, can sleep through anything. Literally. He slept through an 8.5 earthquake, a fire, and my baby cousin's daily two o'clock am temper tantrum.
     At some point in the night, I got up to use the restroom. I didn't bother waking Connor up to tell him, because he'd just ignore me anyway. When I finished and came back, Connor was about to light a fire. I guess I woke you up. Sorry. I sat next to him and hugged him for warmth before he could light the fire.
     As soon as he lit it, we sat there for about another thirty minutes and both fell asleep without putting it out.