Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
The alarm clock across the room continues to break the silence innocently, oblivious to my wrath. Each second, it beats on my eardrums like a thunderstorm. I try in vain to block the noise out with my pillow, only to find that the ticking seeps through only too easily, like water through a porous sponge. Frustrated, I dart out of bed, locate the blasted thing and stuff it underneath a pile of clothes in the wardrobe. I lie again, content that the clock's rhythm will never again haunt my sleep.
Or Not.
A minute later, I notice a reddish glow on the wall that I am facing. To my dismay, I also discover regular flashes of blue like lightning bolts. I desperately squeeze my eyes shut, but it is bright as a midsummer's day now. Again, I drag myself out of bed. I stalk the electric switch, then pounce upon it. I gauge its amber, burning eyes out. As for the cell phone, I snuff its life out with a single button. I am satisfied now. A smile spreads across my libs, then suddenly it explodes into a madman's laughter, echoing and cracking like a pan of boiling oil.
Actually, I am not laughing. Well, I am not sure. A few seconds ago, I could have sworn that I was guffawing like an evil villain, but now the room is drained of sound and a fragile silence displaces it. Did I laugh? Sleep deprivation turns everything into a deja vu that after five seconds fade out of thought. It is confusing; and I need sleep.
I climb into my bed and fall flat on my face. Pitch black, and not a soul stirring now. Good. Now it is time for... Life, Universe and Everything. My all-too industrious and inquisitive mind plunges itself into metaphysics. Why do we live? What is life? Furious, I order it to stop. My brain agrees, and moves onto something else. Her.
I give up. I reach for a somnifacent pill. I let my mind run free to agonise itself. Slowly, the tide comes in.