Once Again

The Night Theif

The world was well, soft as the night rocked me into a deep sleep. I am satisfied, even though we are going to be pulled apart. And… And I know that splitting atoms has consequences, but we’re not atoms - lets face it. No, we are together, no matter what happens. Even my mother thinks that this is right, it is right. But usually the right thing hurts more, why isn’t this hurting?

My room is still and quiet, the air mills around in a lazy way that makes my eyelids heavy, but the silence tells me that it’s not okay to sleep. There isn’t any rain on the window, there isn’t a spring breeze, there isn’t a sound. I don’t hear my mother in the room next to me, tossing and turning from stress. Tadashi doesn’t make his usual midnight sounds, sneaking into the kitchen for a snack. The night is too still, and I am scared out of my mind. But maybe I shouldn’t be, things just flipped around and we can figure a way out of this. I have no reason to be scared, not one… Okay, I am fear-frozen about Tadashi.

What if I never see him again? What happens if one of us doesn’t wait? What if the consequences are worse than we ever dreamed? It’s the ¨what if’s¨ that scare me. I squirm my way out of the blankets, too hot. I wait for a few moments. Too cold. I stick one leg back under the covers. Not comfortable and now only one leg is warm. With nothing else to do I crawl out of bed and slip on a pair of socks to protect my feet from the cold floor. Crossing my arms to keep them warm I scurry over to my door and as gently as I can pull it open. It moans and I clench my teeth, worried that I might wake somebody up.

The hallway is dark and creepy, it suddenly becomes the scariest place in the world because of the immense darkness. Never the less I tip-toe down it, the floor breathes a sigh every step I take. I put my foot down, steadily adding more weight to it. The floor creaks again and I hold my breath. Childhood memories wander back into my brain of when I would sneak into my parent’s room in the early morning. That was so long ago.

I look ahead of me, the living room casting it’s silhouette and latching onto the kitchen. I suddenly realize how thirsty I am and decide that if I want to get to the kitchen, I have to make it down the hallway to the tile floor where it won't make so much noise. So I slide, my mind conjures up the image of a figure skater and I release a smile.

Careful to be extra quiet as I approach the couch, I bump into an endtable and nearly overturn a lamp. I catch it, thankfully, but grind my teeth when I hear Tadashi turn over. I breath a sigh of relief when no more sounds come from his general area. But the worst part of it all is now I am thirsty, and I have scared myself so much in the past few moments that I have to pee. Just as a little tidbit of information, the bathroom is back down the hall.

I open the fridge, examining its contents. Nothing of interest shows, so I settle for the never-failing H2O. I gratefully drink it, having to pee more than ever. So I put the glass upside down in the sink and dash down the hall, silently letting the bathroom door click into place.

Coming out of the bathroom and heading back towards my room, I look one last time in the living room… Will this be his last night here? My heart stops and sinks down to my feet that are slowly losing feeling due to the cold floor. I take in the sight.

I can't make out any detail because any light that is there is behind the couch - so you only see a black shape of where things are. Dead center of the lump of furniture is a figure sitting upright. I find my heart again and it starts ringing in my ears out of sheer terror.

¨Couldn’t sleep, either?¨ Tadashi. I shake my head, then remembering how dark it is and the fact that he probably can see me, I murmur a ¨no¨. He stands up and I can see him rub the back of his neck. ¨Same here.¨ I walk over to his general area.

¨I’m just… Thinking.¨ He nods, that much I can make out from the blackened figure standing before me, his face is only shadows. ¨I’m worried about tomorrow.¨

¨So am I.¨ I feel horrible not even thinking about how he must feel, he’s about to lose forty percent of his life rotting away in a prison. ¨But it will turn out fine, I promise. It might not even end up with me in jail, we still have a trial.¨ Yeah, a trial. They are going to be so biased against him, it will hardly be fair. My worry is inevitable. "You should get some sleep... A lot’s gonna happen tomorrow." His warm voice illuminates the cold and dark room, his silhouette bringing me comfort - it's just his thereness that cures me.

I decide to suck up any emotions that are spilling from my eyes right  now, we are at the point where it wont change ant minds, so why make the situation harder than it already is? Slowly I make my way back to my room, not fully closing the door until I am positive that he is lying down… He’s the one that needs sleep. I never fully shut the door - he never fully goes to sleep. I lie in bed awake, thinking about him, not stopping my thoughts from wandering to the memories… The letters, the banana walnut bread, the day we first met, when I first saw him - I like thinking of those times. Those times when hope was so strong that we took it for granted.

At around what I assume to be one in the morning a steady snore finally is audible from the living room. And finally, finally, I let myself drift off. My blinking becomes heavy and my breath slows as I breathe softly through my nose. My heart takes on the beat of a slow song. And for a moment - my world is perfect.

Suddenly, a hand clasps over my mouth, I try and scream but my body abruptly tingles and falls limp. I'm on the floor.

A person - it has to be a guy - hoists me up over their shoulder and tosses me back on the bed. My lips feel fat and numb like after being at the dentist and I taste blood in my mouth - I must have bitten my cheek.

The mysterious figure shoves my head into a bag of some kind. I feel my world moving but I can't see anything. I want to scream and flail but all I can do is try to breathe, breathe through the cloth of the sack that covers my face. I'm thrown again, limp like a ragdoll into a firm cushion. I hear an engine cough and start up. Car, I'm in a car. My heart makes it hard for my lungs to suck air in. The air is stale and smells old.

Tadashi, please wake up.