Fall in May

~25~ The Lunch of the Five Sense's

"So my hearing is actually pretty normal-ish. And by 'ish' I mean that apparently, I have a little more sensitivity to pitch perception. So ability to locate sound origins, only slightly more accurately than most people? Or at least so my sister claims." She waves the thought away.

"So in other words, I am slightly more sensitive in my reaction to sounds. Which means I get the added fun of startling easier than most at loud noises in the dark. You know, so I can really enjoy the daily series of small heart attacks I do so love, from being continually surprised by sudden loud noises." She begins to count off her least favorite surprises for me. "Like lockers slamming right next to my head, and books dropping in class. Oh, and my personal favorite, large groups of little girls suddenly shrieking together in mutual excitement. Over whatever the hell it is that girls in high school shriek in shared excitement about?"

"So sorry to disappoint, but the only thing I really got out of the whole deal was that silly breathing thing I like to do so much. Maybe just possibly a deeper level of self-awareness? Not to mention the ability to irritate and annoy the crap out of others with all my super specialness. So yay me." She shakes her head to de-emphasize the "Yay me" drone.

"Oh, and also my cycle is slightly longer than 24 hours." She adds dryly. "That's my sleep cycle in case you were wondering, not the other girly one."

"Yes, like the majority of my darkside kindred, I have the added joy of dealing with what is known as non-24-hour sleep-wake condition. Because unlike a sighted person, my circadian sleep cycle is not entrained to the sun. You know, cause I can't actually see the sunlight ...just the darkness." She waves her hand in front of her nightshades for emphasis.

"So left to my own devices, I sleep when I am tired and I wake when I am done sleeping. Which over time becomes out of sync with everyone else in this time zone, unless I maintain a strict clock regimen. So thus the constant time checking I am oh-so-fond-of." She taps her fingernail soundly on the cover of her ornate timepiece.

"Now onto the stupid sevens then ...like do I dream? Why yes I do, thank you very much for asking." She smiles falsely. "But not in pretty pictures, like I've heard that other people do. See I dream in the sense sensations that I have experiences with, so sounds, smells, tastes, feelings, even touches from time to time."

"Which is super awesome, especially when I have that one fun dream that I am still a screaming baby bun. Stuck in the oven that my mother shoved me in, slowly burning to death." She shivers slightly. I sense there is something deeply prophetic about this incantation, that I am almost positive is not a late summer chill.

"Then there's that whole reoccurring falling nightmare thing, so that really helps with the whole not sleeping thing." She snorts. "I used to have nightmares all the time as a little kid. But when you come to know the darkness as well as I have? You tend to get over those pretty quick. Especially after you figure out that the real monsters in the world of the waking are the same ones you have breakfast with every day." Of course immediately and incorrectly assume the Sinister Sister to be the monster in question.

"So that's the Fives, Sixes and Sevens, any questions that I didn't answer so far?" May folds her hands in her lap contritely and steels herself for more of my stupid.

"Yeah, one question and a couple of comments." I start slowly, still trying to wrap my mind around all her truth. "What I was gonna ask you was ...what do you normally do on the weekends? So if you're not too busy? If you wanted to maybe grab some lunch and hang out for a while on Saturday or Sunday?"

"Ah huh?" May falls completely still and silent. 

I watch her cascading reactions closely, as it hits her that she might have just jumped the gun. Possibly overreacting ever so slightly to my stupid "Do you mind if I ask you a question?" question.