05.22.2002 - 3:24 p.m.

History of a long night...

The first time you wake up, it�s 10:09. You realize that you�d fallen asleep on the couch, and that the only reason you haven�t fallen asleep OFF the couch is your friend�s arm around your waist. You notice that he�s snoring, and that thanks to the edge of the couch, you can�t feel your left leg below the knee.

At 10:15 you try to get him to his bed. He�s much bigger than you, so you have to prod him into going under his own steam. You suspect that if you don�t make him go, he won�t ever get there. He hasn't slept much lately, so you�d be a terrible friend to leave him to spend the night on the couch.

You follow him back to his room to make sure he actually reaches the bed. He seems to assume that you�re staying, so you do. You miss that kind of thing.

At 11:31, he rolls over. His fingers move against your side, and if he�s aware of what he�s doing at all, then he�s trying to either tickle or soothe. You're not sure which. Your side isn�t sure which he is doing, either.

At 12:30, he sits up to take his shirt off. "Don't mind the man behind the curtain," he mumbles at your back.

At 1:12 he has all the blankets, so you rectify the situation.

You wake up again at 2:35 when he takes them back from you.

At 2:49 his forearm makes your pillow flex as he tests for feeling in his fingers. You imagine there isn�t any, so you half-sit while he rearranges himself. This earns you a sleepy kiss on the forehead.

At 3:04 he rolls over again. You ask in a whisper if he�d sleep better without you there. �No,� he answers, though it sounds a lot like �nmphff.�

At 3:50 your contacts have dried out to the point where they�ve stuck to your eyeballs. You spend a few minutes making yourself tear up to relubricate them.

The next time you wake up he is scratching your back. You don�t care what time it is. He laughs at the sound you make.

At 6:00 his alarm goes off for the first time.

At 6:10, when the snooze alarm goes off, he gets up, and you let yourself out. There is dew on your car. There is never dew when you�re usually up. You have to drive home cold, with the windows down, so that the dew (or your chunky dry-contact sight) doesn�t get you into an accident.

You sleep the last little while in your own bed, without binding clothes or gritty contacts or cover competition. At 8:10, when your own snooze goes off, you wake up for the last time, realizing that you should have just tucked him in and left. He�d been exhausted, and sleeping alone works better, no contest.

But the other kind of sleep is so much more restful, especially when nothing complicated has to happen. Maybe he�d missed it, too.

-stonebridge

Top Ten

previous | next