Waking up can be difficult for most. However, for weirdos such as myself, sleeping is extremely hard to do. Most nights, I don’t even try to fall asleep anymore when I know I won’t be able to. Instead of trying to sleep when I know I can’t, instead, I wait. Waiting until my family falls into deep slumber is often my only option, waiting for midnight is my only chance. It’s my best chance to sneak out and run off into the night; at least, until I get caught, which hopefully won’t be any time soon.
When the time comes, I get to just let go and instead of fighting my sleeplessness, my insomnia, I’m able to enjoy the night life. Opening the window, I look at my locked bedroom door behind me, staring into the dark corners of my room. I wait patiently for any faint sound; any stirrings that would indicate anyone would be awake. Luckily all that can be heard is the light snores coming from my parents within their bedroom, a rustle of the sheets as my mom moves around within her sleep. Restless yet unconscious tossing and turning that’s never seemed to bother my dad who lies by her side every night.
Jumping down from the ledge of my window, only four feet above the ground, I can feel the nice rush of a breeze pass by as my feet hit the soft earth. I close the window gently, my efforts to be silent feel almost too slow. The day’s stress coils up in my muscles, keeping my body rigid and tight until I stretch out in the middle of my front yard. First I stretch one leg, then the other, hearing a satisfying pop from one of my knees. Rotating my arms, I can feel my shoulder blades jutting out from my back. I roll my head back on my neck while closing my eyes and raise my arms to the sky, taking in a deep breath, and then slowly let out a groan as a few different muscles and joints pop and relax.
Dropping my arms to my sides, I open my eyes again to see dark clouds moving across the sky, the bright moon being covered and passed by gray fluffy wisps. Both the moon and the clouds present themselves against a black night sky, littered with twinkling little dots of stars. I pull the hood of my jacket down and start to jog, slowly picking up the pace to a decent manageable running speed. I allow my feet lead me away from home.
When I run, thoughts don’t bother me unless I allow them to. The busy life I lead along with the bothers of everyday life and havoc that’s reaped throughout the world; nothing matters as long as I can just keep my feet moving and bypass my changing surroundings faster than the amount of time it takes to process them. I just keep running. Across gravel, pavement, grass, and sand, it doesn’t matter the terrain as long as nothing blocks my way.
The night feels fresh, even though I know the time is nearing one thirty in the morning. My lungs start to ache from the intake of cold air and running for nearly an hour and a half. I slow my pace until I’m walking, doing my best to catch my breath in a short amount of time. The wind slows its cool strokes against my face now that I’m simply walking. Only the cold air around me can be felt, chilling me the bones, as my feet come to a stop in front of a diner.
I’ve forced myself to stop in front of the cafe. “Kathie’s Kitchen”, one of the only diners I know of that is open twenty-four seven within a three or four mile radius of my house. It’s family owned and there’s always two people in the diner, no matter the time. One person in the kitchen and one person to wait on tables. In the twenty years they’ve been open, only during Thanks Giving break and Winter Break do they ever close up. The diner isn’t even a main source of income for the family, that’s what makes it cool. Just a regular family owning a business as a hobby that someone is always working on, nothing short of amazing there. They’ve hired teens simply looking for work before, too.
A car passes by me on the road, bright head lights pulling me from my thoughts. I shiver and head towards the door. Walking in, the little bell above the door announces my presence. The jingling sound is welcoming compared to the silence of the night now. “Just one moment, please!” I hear a woman’s voice say from the kitchen.
“Take all the time you need.” I respond back. My voice is much gruffer than I had intended it to be and I realize just how dry my mouth feels. Looking around, I spot only one other customer in the joint. I slide into the booth seat opposite of them. Nose deep in a book, they either don’t notice my presence or don’t care. The young adult book they’re reading is ‘Go Ask Alice’ by Beatrice Sparks.
“Hey there, stranger, good book you’re reading?” I ask the question at a whisper, not wanting to upset the fragile silence surrounding us too much. I wait patiently a moment before receiving a response. “Hallo, Diederik. Wie gehts?” Was their response. “You know I don’t do the whole German-language thing, Johanna. Stop trying to get me to learn it with you. My mind is crowded enough as it is, I don’t need you peer pressuring me to learn a new language.”
“Alright, fine. Grumpy much, Diederik? I sleep when I want but you, sadly, have problems.” Sighing, I put an elbow on the table and let the weight of my head be cradled by my palm. “Yeah…” I rub the back of my neck with my other hand for a moment. “I haven’t slept in three days, Hanna; of course that’s a problem. What do you expect other than for me to be a bit grumpy?” Letting out a hallow laugh, she smirks before giving a reply. “For you to be so tired, you can only be happy, you graceful dork.” I roll my eyes at her and her highly optimistic expectations.
“That’s not how things work, sorry to disappoint. Insomnia is a real pain in my ass; you have no idea how much I’d like to go to sleep right now. But I close my eyes and nothing happens, I stay fully awake. It’s just… Just…” I was still whispering to Johanna, mid-sentence before I was interrupted by someone clearing their throat. I turned to see Catherine, Kathie’s daughter, standing in front of me, ready to take my order.
“Ready to order, kid, or are you going to continue mumbling to yourself?” Giving me a smile, Catherine took my order before I responded to the latter of her question. “I’m not mumbling to myself, I’m talking to Johanna.” Catherine looked up at me in surprise a moment and took a step back, surveying the room and overlooking Johanna. “Who, kid? No one’s in this diner but me, you, and Morty in the kitchen…” she says rather cautiously.
Scowling up at Catherine, I responded. “No, Johanna is right here.” I pointed to Johanna, who was too oblivious due to her book to give any response or indication as to whether she understood what was going on or not. “Listen kid, I don’t know what prank you’re pulling, but no one is there. You’re pointing at thin air.” Making eye contact with Catherine, I shook my head vigorously and slammed my fist down on the table. “No. No… Johanna is right here w-…”
Looking back to where she was sitting across from me, my best friend was… Strangely missing, I stood up. I looked around furiously as Catherine went quickly back into the kitchen. Johanna had to still be here, I didn’t see her, but maybe she had gone to the bathroom? She had to still be in the diner, I would’ve heard the bell above the door ring if she had left. “Johanna?” I called.
Walking to the girl’s restroom, I opened the door and stood in the doorway, not wanting to look like a pervert if Johanna was in there. “Johanna, where are you?” It was clear that she wasn’t in there. I let out an angry grunt and looked around the diner. “Are you sure you didn’t see Johanna, maybe she went into the kitchen with you?” I called back to Catherine, and only after a few minutes did she respond. “S-sorry hun, but no. No one’s back here, maybe you should just go home.”
I sat on a stool at the diner’s bar. “But what about my order?” I retorted. “We don’t have the supplies, please leave.” Catherine’s tone was becoming higher-pitched and irritable. “Oh, I could order so-…” I was cut off by the sound of police sirens in the distance. “What’s that about?” I asked myself as Catherine spoke up again, asking me to just go. I couldn’t understand why though. I didn’t do anything wrong, maybe Johanna did leave without me registering the sound of the bell. It was possible, since I was so tired and all.
As I sat, pondering and hoping that Catherine would change her mind and at least bring me something to drink, two police cars parked directly in front of the diner, lights blinking and sirens on. I couldn’t understand why police would be so rude as to do that, if they were going to be coming in for a bite to eat or something. I turned around fully on the stool, just in time to see one police officer walk in, followed by two more. They looked around the diner before finally staring at me for an intense moment.
Without warning, one of the officers had their taser out and yelled at me to get on my knees with my hands up. I obeyed fully, almost as though my mind had no control over my body. “Wha-What’s going on?” I asked, almost too quietly as one of the officers recited the Miranda Warning to me while another handcuffed me and lifted me to my feet.
As I’m being walked out of the diner, I notice blood on the counter where I was sitting, on the door to the girl’s restroom, on the table I was sitting at with Johanna, and even a few drops of blood splattered on the ground. I must have cut myself on a knife or fork when I slammed my hand on the table while telling Catherine that Johanna was right in front of her. I can feel the blood on my arm now, seeping out and moistening the back of my jacket. One step out the door and everything fades into black as I begin to lose consciousness and pass out. I don’t remember if it was from the stress or the lack of sleep.
One month later I’m on medication for insomnia, depression, and schizophrenia. I had no clue. All of my friends disappeared when the doctors at the mental health hospital began giving me a multitude of medications. It turns out I was a lot more aggressive at the diner than I thought I was, which led to Catherine and Morty calling the police, landed me in an actual hospital, and then a mental health hospital. Some things make sense now that didn’t used to.
All the strange looks I was given in school, all the bullying, and all the pain I suffered through. Now that I have little to no friends left due to being a mental case, all I get is the pain and bullying. Holding up a handful of sleeping pills now, I think I’d like to go to sleep one last time. It will be better to be in the dark, with my friends, than to continue on like this in the light. I always did prefer the night life when I couldn’t sleep. Now it’s time to be a part of the darkness forever. Swallowing my last handful of pills, I lay in bed for the last time. “It shouldn’t be long now.” I whisper to myself, as I shut my eyes.
Short Stories