✅ My Sister's Problem

7. Early

I started out with the sound on low, and slowly increased it until it was right there. Not loud enough to wake Lindy, but probably loud enough to insinuate itself into her awareness if she went from theta to beta sleep; so that other noises wouldn't be able to wake her. Then I grabbed my bowl from under my bed, and hurried quietly to the bathroom. This time, it took me a little less time to get the water to body temperature. I guess that I had more experience now, so I could do it better. And I was glad of that, because I was just stirring the water with my fingertips when my phone told me that my sister had gone from a theta to beta sleep state. After that she would either spend three to five minutes before going back into deep sleep, or progress to alpha and start tossing and turning until she was more comfortable. Knowing Lindy, the last seemed quite likely. But organic white noise was supposed to reduce the time spent in an alpha state, which was one of the reasons we were listening to a river right now.

I came closer, and watched her pulse slowly decrease. If her hand was in water when the screen went from beta to theta, that was the best chance of the trick working. At least according to an anonymous Japanese scientist of the previous generation. And if I'd understood him correctly. It was hard to believe that their report had gone into such detail about expensive medical sensors and monitoring equipment, when any smartwatch or fitness band over about twenty bucks would have the same functionality now.

This was the moment of truth. Did I really want to do this? Was I really willing to put my sister through this much embarrassment, just so that I could risk embarrassment myself in a couple of weeks? I might not have been sure; but earlier in the evening she had said some pretty mean things about my friends, and then said I was cheap for giving her a second hand watch instead of buying her the new one. That meant I had quite a bit less sympathy than usual.

I slid the bowl gently under her hand, and allowed her fingers to break the surface. She didn't respond, didn't move. There was no sign of a response. My phone showed no response either; her sleep state was sitting comfortably in beta. I crouched on the floor, with one hand on the bowl to prevent it being upset if she moved. Two minutes later, there was a slight shift in position. Her other arm flew out, catapulting an old brown teddy out of the bed. The bear – which might have been called Lincoln, but I wasn't sure – thudded off the bathroom door and rolled under the curtain into my room. I left it for now. I knew I should move the bowl away, but I didn't want to touch Lindy when my phone said alpha. I waited in silence, desperately hoping she wouldn't wake up while I was here, until she rolled half over and clutched a pillow against her chest. Beta was back, and I still had an arm.

The next five minutes were the most stressful I had ever experienced. I knew this probably wasn't worth it now. I'd spent money on this plan, sure. But I'd been telling the truth when I said that the SVX-3 was better for tracking exercise intensity for skating. It was something I'd been wanting, and the thought of giving Lindy a gift had just given me an excuse to buy it. I told myself that if I could get out of here without disturbing her, then a pacifier would have to be enough. That would satisfy this irrational curiosity about being a little kid again, and the bowl could go back to being a floating soap dish for the bath.

The indicator in the corner of my phone screen changed colour again. Theta. The deepest stage of sleep, the point at which she would have no way of knowing if I moved. She wouldn't feel a gentle touch, she wouldn't notice the water being withdrawn, she wouldn't hear my footsteps. That much was guaranteed. But I was still locked up with nerves, and it was another two minutes before I could relax enough to move. Then Lindy's foot twitched, and she gave a little sigh. I froze again. She was still deeply asleep, and there was nothing to indicate that she was any closer to waking either in her face or on my screen. She drew the breath in again, and I heard a faint whistle that turned into a quiet grunt. The first stages of a snore. I knew she wouldn't wake now, but it took every ounce of self-control to stick around long enough to dry off her hand before leaving the room.

I walked, I didn't run. And a careful sweep for obstructions prevented me tripping over a phone charger that she'd apparently left stretched across the floor. And then I was back in my own room, safe.

With the next step, I almost tripped over a chocolate-brown bear.

"Hey, Lincoln," I whispered. "I guess Lindy's too big to want stuffed animals now. You can stay here until morning." Once I'd emptied the bowl and dried it out, I used it to carry him over to my bed. I thought about leaving the bear on my desk, and saying something in the morning about how he'd been thrown through the curtain some time in the night. That would be worth a laugh; it had been a running joke in past years that my sister was trying to assassinate me in her sleep, and I was sure I could bring back all the old running jokes. But then I decided that there were more sensible places to put a teddy bear.

I switched my phone back to controlling my own watch, and reset the alarm for the same time window as Lindy's. I slid the bowl under the bed, pushing my seldom-used basketball out of the way. And then I curled up under my blanket with a pacifier and a teddy bear. Now I would see if pretending I was a little kid really did come as naturally as some of my dreams had suggested.

It took me five minutes or less to be fast asleep again.

Author's Note: Was that what you were expecting? I'll give a virtual cookie to anyone who anticipated that turn of events. And yes, I would love to see more comments speculating about possible outcomes...  it's hard to pitch the right balance between formulaic and unexpected when I don't  know what you're expecting.