This is fiction—a quiet scene that unfolded in my mind this morning. Not my story, but one I couldn’t shake. It’s the first glimpse of something larger I’m letting play out. More to come.
The darkness surrounded me like a warm cocoon. My mind began to stir as I felt a rhythmic tapping on my wrist. Tap, tap, tap. I tried to ignore it. Not wanting to be pulled from the darkness that enveloped me. The warm, comforting darkness. Tap, tap, tap. It finally registered what that infernal tapping was. Without leaving the confines of my warm covers, I reached my right hand to my left. I tapped the blurry orange glow of my smart watch to silence the annoying reminder. Time to get up.
"I'm not ready, not yet," I said under my breath.
I let my left arm fall back over the mass of silky foam next to me. I gripped my body pillow ever so snuggly. I was not going to let that darn machine win this time. I allowed my body to relax and sank back into the other body pillow tucked behind me. Sandwiched there between two pillows, I tried to let my mind drift off, back to the world of dreams it had just come from. But there was a problem. A voice in my head spoke.
"Don't you think you should get up?"
"No," I answered, barely audible.
"You really should get up, there are things to do," the voice clamored.
"Not yet, I'm not ready!" I barked in my own head.
"Dude, get up and get moving!" The voice grew more firm.
"Why am I arguing with myself over this?" I asked.
"I just want to sleep a little more."
The conversation in my head was interrupted by a searing sensation on my left side. Starting at the hip and radiating almost to my knee, it was an electric shock to my system.
"Arrghh!, that hurts," I moaned as I turned over instinctively to try and mute the pain. As I did, my left shoulder decided to join the fun. A dull ache began that quickly escalated to a simmering burn.
"Really? Is that how you wanna play the game this morning?"
I peeled open my eyes. The glimmer of the street light outside filtered in through the small gap between the window and the blind. Total darkness was replaced by the hazy, shadowy outlines of my bedroom, my desk, my door.
"Fine, you win, I'll get up. But you owe me," I mumbled to myself.
I rolled back over onto my right side. The pain in my hip and shoulder subsided, but not entirely. I grabbed the one pillow to my right and heaved it upwards. This single motion also grabbed the thick comforter that was my warm sheath and jerked it from my body. I tossed the pillow behind me. I lay there for a moment, gathering my thoughts, trying to let the cool air of the room and the pedestal fan blow over my body.
As the chill set in, I swung my feet off the bed to my right and pressed up with my right arm, rising to a sitting position like a zombie coming back to life. My feet hit the floor. At least it was carpeted. I reached to my night stand and grabbed my glasses and the fan remote. Once my glasses were firmly in place, I clicked the power button on the fan and the whirring ceased. As I sat there, I couldn't think of anything I would rather do than curl up in that warm, safe bed. But the voice was right. There were things to do.
The day begins, reluctant as ever. There’s more to this story—more mornings, more voices, more steps forward. I’ll share the next piece when it comes.
—Daniel