Black Iris

Insomnia blows.

Rose

The night after the press swarmed me outside of therapy, I couldn't sleep. After tossing and turning for a few hours, I decided I needed to move around. So, I climbed out of bed and padded out to the lounge room.

I sat down on the couch, and stared at the TV, zoning out for a few minutes.

Then my eyes wandered. Across the shelves, raking over the knickknacks and photographs, then finally landing on the wine cabinet in the corner.

No one would notice if one of the bottles went missing, right?

Moving like a ghost I stood and walked across, then chose out the cheapest of the lot. I didn't bother with a glass.

The lukewarm alcohol was comforting, and after taking a swig, I carried it out to the sun room. In there, I set myself down, and looked out through the big glass windows at the dark hills sprawling above.

Our house was at the very base of the foothills, and our backyard backed onto the open grassland as the plains gave way to steep sprawling mountains. In the dark, the black hills felt awfully eerie.

I took another swig of wine, set it down, and decided to sneak out.

And, by sneak, I mean I got dressed, stepped quietly past my parent's room, then left through the front door. I paused on the porch, waiting for my mum to come out and drag me back in, but she hadn't even stirred.

A part of me wanted to go climb up into the hills, but even tipsy, I knew that was a bad idea. In the end I decided to just go walking through the neighbourhood, guided by the light of the street lamps.

It was late spring, yet the weather was brisk and cold, another one of Colorado's frequent mood swings. Even though kids were gearing up to go on summer vacation, it had snowed overnight about a week before. It hadn't lasted long; Denver snow never does. The ice caused trouble for the morning commuters but it was almost all gone by noon.

I wondered if we were going to get any more snow. Not tonight, of course. The sky was clear.

The streets were quiet, and there were no cars on the road. As I walked, my mind wandered to everywhere and nowhere at once.

I tried to not think about Blake and Gwen.

I walked the streets until my feet got sore, then kept walking. It wasn't until I reached an old playground that I finally decided to sit, collapsing onto one of the swings.

There, I shut my eyes and let out a shaky breath. I let myself focus on the sounds of the night. Cars in the distance. Wind in the trees. Crickets in the bushes.

But mostly, silence.

Then, a voice.

"Phil?"

I opened my eyes, and looked back at the equipment where the voice came from. At the top of the slide, I could make out a dark figure.

"What?" I whispered, confused.

The figure shifted, and I could make out the shape a girl with long, dark hair.

"Are you Phil?" The figure asked, in a familiar female voice. "I think I met at the park in Lakewood last week."

I was quiet for a minute, trying to remember that chicks name.

"Charlotte?" I queried.

She laughed softly. "Close. Charlene."

"Sorry," I said.

"It's okay," she said into the dark.

Then there was silence once again. After a long pause, she spoke again.