bed time

03:27 am

"Good afternoon," he chuckled quietly to himself as he stirred his cereal slowly. "How are you this fine summers eve?"

Norris was feeling rather bothersome, to be perfectly honest. But alas, he did not want to vocalise such negativity into the world around him, so classically in Norris-fashion, he lied.

"I am doing oh so marvellously today, my dear! And how might you be?" It was at this point Norris realised the issue of being the only person present in the conversation, and as he pondered over another answer to the small talk he was engaged in with himself, his mind began to wander. Leaving himself hanging, he began to imagine what life would be like if he was different. If he was... gluten-free.

'I wouldn't be able to eat bread,' he thought to himself. 'And I'd always be having flapjacks!'

After considering the gluten-free lifestyle for forty-five minutes or so, Norris began to smile. He was a blessed man to have the ability to digest gluten. Thinking these happy thoughts, his eyes began to droop, and he drifted into a deep sleep.

***

"Norris!" 

His head was pounding, his ears vibrating from the loud booming voice shouting his name.

"Norris! Norris, come here, will you?"

He opened one eye at a time, the bright white light making him wince. His cereal still sat in front of him.

"Norris!" 

The voice was coming from upstairs.

Eventually mustering up the energy to stand, he hobbled through the kitchen to the bottom of the stairs.

"Yes?" He croaked, feeling rather muddled.

"Come up here, Norris!"

The voice was deep, and although unfamiliar, it was somewhat warm and friendly. So up he went, gripping the banister as he did so.

As Norris reached the top of the stairs, he noticed that something was different. His dark blue carpet had changed colour. Instead, his feet were resting upon a bright orange one instead. "Now that is rather peculiar," he thought to himself. "I don't remember changing the carpets..."