On the ninth night, something was wrong. Hensley's face was paler, her eyes droopier, her words more slurred.
"Hensley, have you been sleeping?" he knew the answer, but he had to ask anyway.
"No...can't." her head nodded from side to side. She was shivering because it had been colder than usual that night.
Shiloh lifted her from her spot and cradled her in his lap, her head against his chest and he was sure she could hear his heart sky-rocketing.
She was mumbling quietly and incoherently. he rocked her back and forth, she was as light as he had imagined.
"Shh. Hensley. Reason number four." He whispered it. He wanted her calm.
"Hens, listen to that. Reason number four, with night comes silence. The whole world is sleeping and it's just you and me and the sound of our heartbeats." She smiled a bit and it eased his worries.
"Hear it, Hens?"
Hensley heard it. She hear it loud and clear like a deafening bell, or like sirens.
It rocked her to sleep like a lullaby.
"Yeah, Shiloh, I hear it."
YOU ARE READING
S H I L O H (a short story)
Teen FictionIn which a boy with nyctophilia meets a girl with insomnia * "My name is Shiloh", he replied, and she said he looked like a Shiloh. He asked her name. "Hensley." it was a short clipped reply, one he grew accustomed to. He knew it was because she was...
