100 word stories

Elusive Sleep

Sleep was elusive, his outstretched hands failing to grasp the rapidly deteriorating memory of the nightmare that had jolted him awake. Yet those same rough hands served him well in forming playful shadows on the wall. First, a bunny hops its way across the bricks, then a dog barks soundlessly at the other shadows and finally a bird races across the wall before beelining through the barred window to freedom. His gaze lingered on the locked window for the longest time, his eyes cutting through the cell bars to the sky outside where he so desperately longed to be.