preview

Do You Ever Sleep?

Decent Essays
Open Document

'Do you ever sleep? ' It had been puzzling me for months; I saw her every day and every night, at twelve, always awake, always watching. 'No, I don 't ' she replied running here fingers along the wall as we walked. 'Don 't you need sleep? ' I asked, rather condescendingly, as if I were talking to a child, knowing quite well that in some sense I was. 'Well course I do ' she laughed quietly, stopping abruptly as we reached a lamppost. She ran her finger through the light condensation, making a perfect straight line until she could reach no further. I was a few paces in front of her now and looked back just in time to see her taste the water she had taken. I was used to these strange tendencies by now; the way she managed to bypass …show more content…

' Her complete isolation from normal interactions ran through me in moments like that, and it was beautiful in a way, the fact that she felt no need to conform to any given structure. Her social awareness and understanding so unforced and natural. She didn 't see it as a great gift, she didn 't recognise that it could be a hindrance. She just used it. 'I sleep when the people come out ' 'So you sleep during the day ' 'No, during the day I watch. During the day I watch the people. ' 'So when do you sleep? ' 'When the sun 's just coming up. When the people don 't talk, when they 're alone and walk by quickly. All in a rush going places. There 's not many people to watch then, they 're asleep see '. 'But doesn 't that mean you 're awake at night, when it 's cold and dark. ' 'Yes, but that 's when the loud people come out, the ones I watch at night. The ones that walk like children and sing loudly. ' She smiled at this thought. 'I like watching them, I learn a lot from them. And they talk to me too, with the bottle that makes them so happy. But these peoples, they 're really sad too. But they don 't know because they are so happy. But they realise. And sometimes I have to run because they realise, sometimes I make them realise so I have to run. But it 's not their fault, I ask them and they get angry. Some just having fun. But some need my questions, even though they don 't want them. ' 'So you talk to the drunks every

Get Access
Related
Get Access