A Tale of Thousand Prompts

Chapter 6: Sleepy Tian

"Mn... What time is it?" Tian asked sleepily.

"It's almost time for the kids' class to start," Phupha said. "You should get up and get ready now."

Tian got up quickly but still felt very sleepy. Phupha said he'll fix the bed for him so Tian went and got some new clothes and changed quickly. But before he forgot, he drank his pill and took his bag. Both he and Phupha started walking to the school and when he got there, the kids gave a confused look. Tian puts his bag down on the table and when he looked up, the kids were still staring.

"Sorry for being a little late. I overslept." Tian said but felt like he'll yawn any moment.

"But P'Seetian, you never overslept. What happened?" Meejoo asked.

"I think I was a bit tired yesterday, that's why," Tian answered.

The kids looked at each other with confused looks because they know for a fact that Tian wouldn't be too tired yesterday since he just sat with the kids the whole day telling fun stories and even romantic ones.

Tian ignored the looks and just proceeded to the lesson. Once he finishes writing the summary of the lesson on the board, he sat down and laid his head a bit on the table before drifting off to sleep. When the kids finished writing, they went up to Tian and saw him peacefully sleeping. They took a blanket out of the cabinet and wrapped it around Tian. Then they decided to review what they learned so far.

When he woke up, it was nearly the end of the class and he panicked. Just how long did he sleep? Tian looked at the blanket that fell from his shoulder and then faced the kids, only to see them reviewing their notes. Tian stood up and the kids all look at him with a smile.

"How was your sleep, P'Seetian?" Inta asked.

"Good. I'm sorry I fell asleep on you guys, I guess I was more tired than I thought." Tian apologized.

"It's alright, P'Seetian! We have been reviewing all the lessons we learned from you the entire time!" Ayi said.

"That's good, guys. Maybe tomorrow I will see if you remember what I taught you. But for now, go home. You are dismissed." Tian said.

"Yay!" The kids said and packed up their things.

"Bye P'Seetian! See you tomorrow!" The kids wai'd at their teacher before Rang and Nam took them back to their parents.

When the kids were out of view, Phupha walked up to Tian and placed his hand on the latter's forehead and neck. Then looks confused since Tian felt fine to him. But because Tian was used to the older's scolding he immediately defends himself.

"Don't start scolding me. I really don't know why but I just feel really sleepy today." Tian said.

"I wasn't. I was actually worried that you were sick and tried to hide it." Phupha said softly.

"If I was sick, I wouldn't have been able to get up. I guess I lacked some sleep last night and forgot." Tian said.

"Then you should go home and rest. You'll need it." Phupha said while putting his arm around Tian's waist, side hugging him.

Tian lays his head on the ranger's shoulder and sighed. He really felt sleepy for some reason but maybe because he was so preoccupied with helping the villagers that he didn't notice that he was actually getting himself tired.

The two stayed in that position for a long time until Tian stood up straight and hung his bag on his shoulder. Phupha kissed him on the head and walked with him back to the house.

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A few weeks passed and it still kept happening. There are times, Tian fell asleep on the porch of Khama's house. And sometimes just fell asleep leaning on the tree. There were times where he was in the house of one of the villagers and fell asleep instantly when he was waiting for the kids. The villagers grew concerned for the teacher because he always looked so sleepy and thought the Chief was being harsh to him again. But Phupha reassured them that he wasn't being harsh anymore.