Restless Cobalt

The Second Day

Ma and Bristle agreed to bring up the problem at dinner the next day. Dinner was ideal, because Bristle might sleep in after breakfast, or just not feel up to talking about it first thing in the morning. Besides dinner gave her more opportunity to plan out what she was going to say. Additionally, dinner was when they made announcements; it was just the way things were done.

They also both agreed there was little point or purpose keeping it a secret; everyone else would have picked up that something was up. Maybe knowing what the problem was would cause them a little less worry. Besides, Ma said that there was a good chance the sleep hygiene habits would end up being a group effort. That was reason enough. Ma said she wouldn't bring it up until Bristle was content, and that they could to figure out how they were going to do it.

Bristle was surprised by how much she wanted to plan this beforehand – that wasn't really like her. Most of the time it was Tis who wanted to plan things out. It turned out there were things that even she was sensitive and careful about. Ma said that it was likely everybody had figured it out, but they might as well confirm it and discuss it openly.

Bristle commented that it was a lot of effort, but Ma said that any effort was worth it to do it right. Besides, they were dealing with a similar problem, similar anxieties. That effort would help both of them, making it even more worth it.

Ma stressed that this didn't have to be the only talk they had on the subject; she was always open for discussing it more, and Wis and Tis and Pa could be involved. Even Nana and Pop, if she wanted.

Other things could come with insomnia, too, and they were okay to talk about as well.

The idea that Ma knew about the problem sustained her through most of the next day. It was actually a load off her mind; she didn't have to pretend. A big relief to have a satisfactory answer to their continual concerns; Bristle merely smiled and said that she would address it at dinner. Both of them were mollified by this response. It must have been considerable relief for them, too.

They asked no more questions, and Bristle felt her irritation ebb away a bit. There were still a few things that irritated her – like the cold breezes that day had brought. She was never so annoyed about those before... strange.

When dinner rolled around, Ma had brought up the subject, but she allowed Bristle to explain everything, how she felt, her frustrations. She assisted in providing details that she had forgotten. The topic of sleep hygiene was raised.

Pa said he sometimes had sleeping problems himself – nowadays, he said, it was related to certain days he didn't accomplish anything; he called those "mollusc days." Since he had some experience, it meant that he could give some advice.

His suggestion of a regular night routine was immediately followed by one from Tis. It went like this: maybe Bristle could join in the Wis' nightly bedtime story ritual. That was one of the two goals of that original plan – to set a regular sleeping pattern. Bristle figured it was worth a try. This might be part of that "sleep hygiene" thing Ma had mentioned.

Anyway, if the story was boring, she reasoned, then that could help her fall asleep faster. It was like when they were younger; their parents had read many bedtime stories to the three of them then. But when Bristle and Tis had gotten older, they'd gotten a bit... tired of it, and it became less regular for them. Tis still liked his swashbuckling pirate stories, and Bristle liked them a bit too... mostly when they got into funny situations and made jokes. Some of those characters could be really witty. Outside of that they generally weren't too enthralled.

However, tonight was different since it was to solve a problem... and she figured it was worth a try. Bristle felt rather more enthusiastic about it all.

Not only that, but they planned to trial this that very night. Wis was probably the most excited by that news. This nightly routine was something she wanted to share, regardless of whether or not it was a temporary arrangement.

Of course, this would inevitably mean stricter bedtimes, which Bristle wasn't wild about. But Tis reasoned later that maybe that would only hold a little while – certainly not past their next birthday in a little less than half a year.

Tis, of course, was sympathetic – but in his own way. He said that having a problem like this would be difficult, because it was hard to talk about with a bunch of complicated words that needed to be defined – so it would be hard to make people understand and it was necessary to make them understand. It would be like handing them a book and saying, "Here, read all of that, and then we can converse." Then there would be the sceptical people who didn't believe it because it was so hard to explain. Ma said that just because people had trouble explaining something didn't mean it wasn't real. Sometimes it was very hard to find the words; things could be extremely complicated.

The excitement about Bristle partaking in the routine bedtime stories had made Wis a little more talkative. She asked her if maybe some sort of dilemma was keeping her awake. Bristle said she didn't think so. A little afterwards, Wis had then pointed out that maybe other people had their own problems. Not necessarily same problem, just one that was difficult to explain – they could have some understanding through that. A kinship through hard-to-explain problems.

The conversation made Bristle think a bit, especially with what Wis said. Perhaps she'd ignored or dismissed certain problems that other people had because they had trouble explaining them. Maybe it was fair, though, if they were meeting for the first time – even more so if it was in an unfamiliar place. All this information would be overwhelming, and it would be hard to notice a problem like that with all that going on. Tis talked about this feeling a lot – often after trips to Eckelby where they went to some fancy party or gathering – and Bristle understood what he meant. Hard to focus on and think about the subtle things when there was so much going on.

She tried to put these thoughts into words to voice them aloud – encountering difficulty almost immediately and bumbling through it. But her family seemed to understand her intended meaning. Later Wis had whispered to her and Tis that in new situations, it was better if they were all together, because it meant they could all think of this stuff, and point out things that the others might have missed. It was reminiscent of their earlier conversation about strength in numbers when it came to coming up with ideas.

After dinner, Bristle had felt slightly re-energised, so she and Tis ran around for a bit in the twilight, chasing each other – Bristle's legs were slightly uncooperative, but they managed to have a bit of fun. Wis stayed inside, working on some of the math stuff they were supposed to be getting through that evening. Bristle wasn't looking forward to that, but Ma said she understood if she was distracted.

Of course, Tis seized the opportunity to wear his fleece jacket. Bristle wondered if she'd be allowed to borrow it at some point in the future.