Tick Tock [short story]

m[a]d and madder

Friday, August 9th, XXXX ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀16:52

United States of America

NXX XXXX

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Every night, it gets worse. I’m able to sleep less and less. I’m up tossing and turning. 

My parents don’t know about this. I’m hoping it’ll pass, just like a bad cold or a sneezing fit. Maybe, by next week, it’ll be gone. 

But I’m afraid. What if I stop being able to sleep completely?

There’s a sleep disorder - insomnia. What if I have that?

I won’t be able to get a reprieve from being me anymore. I won’t be able to exist in that realm between consciousness and unconsciousness, plucking dreams of a normal life that I wish I had from some subconscious part of me that recognizes that I could have a normal life.

That scares me.

What will I do then?

It’ll drive me mad.

But then again, to everyone else, I already am mad. What difference does mad and madder make?