The Wish From Heaven | ✓

chapter 8 : thanks for the coffee

11 July; Thursday

"Are you really gonna stay up the whole night?" July asks.

"Yeah," I reply.

Another new thing I discovered about July is that he doesn't sleep, though his eyes always look a bit heavy. After I got a little worried about him staring out the window for so long at a stretch, I took out a book from under my bed and gave it to him to read. The Eye of Minds by James Dashner is pretty hard to put down, in my opinion, though it is not a popular one. He said he wasn't a reader, but so far he looks pretty engrossed in it. He actually asked me if I have any poetry books, but I don't.

"But doctor told you to rest," he says, turning a page. It is half past two now. My body started aching from sitting on the table for too long, so I came to the bed to continue.

"I know," I say, "But I slept so long that even if I try, I won't be able to sleep right now. And trust me, I have studied for exams in worst conditions of health. I will be fine." As soon as I say it, a huge yawn escapes my mouth, making my already heavy eyelids wet.

"Dude...."

I sigh, thinking how even after sixteen hours of sleep, my body clock isn't satisfied.

"I will just go make some coffee." I put down the Biology book, where I have been reading a single sentence about complex plant tissues (sclereids and tracheids and whatevers?) for the past ten minutes without perceiving what it is really saying. It's all because of the phrasing of the sentences. I don't think any of our textbooks are professionally edited. There are many sentences I would write differently.

"You coming?" I ask July after getting out of the bed.

"Yeah, go ahead. I will just finish this page," he says, without taking his eyes off from the book. I tried giving him a spoiler earlier, but he totally freaked out.

"Okay."

I come out of my room, and see the light of Dale's room on. I guess he, too, is staying up studying for the Maths Olympiad finals. I wonder what July wanted me to talk to him about. We simply have no topics of conversation.

I head down to the kitchen as silently as possible so as to not wake up my parents. I wonder if Dad is texting that woman right now. Maybe he is. After turning on the light, I take a pot and put it on the stove. Then I pour one mug amount of water in it, and turn on the stove.

I watch the water as it boils, waiting for the bubbles to appear. My mind wanders off to July, who has been with me for a day now. Somehow, we are getting along quite well, though every time I suddenly think about it, the fact that July exists, still feels unreal. No, seriously. How the hell can he be real? Wow.

Dawn is the reason July is here. He sent July to me, to fulfill his wish. An impossible wish. What I love to do? My future? Living for myself? I was actually quite chill about my future as it all had been decided for me, but now from Dawn's wish, I am worried about it again. I have to think about it seriously.

What do I like to do other than reading books? I try to think. My mind faces a block. Nothing. If you don't count sleeping, that is.

From a very young age, mom has drilled into my mind that I have to be the best, get the best grades, not let anyone defeat me, and aim for the best medican or engineering universities. For as long as I can remember, what mom tells me to do is the only thing I do, and what mom tells me to love is the only thing I love. How, after 17 years, am I supposed to change that all of a sudden?

Now that I think about it, I don't have many good memories in my childhood. I don't think I have ever had a childhood in the first place. The duty of getting the top grades has been there for as long as I remember. My childhood consisted of nothing but the pages of books and the worries about exams. Even if there are good memories, they must have got buried under the weight of all the useless knowledge I gain from school textbooks.