A Short Story About A Long Night

The brightness of the morning is shocking. As I leave the sanctuary of a friend’s house, the amount of light dilates my eyes, signaling the first of a number of natural responses usually unnoticed now awkwardly pushed to the forefront of perception. My senses begin to respond and I take a breath of the outside air. Immediately my body is struck with the desire, the need to be comfortable, peaceful and alone. Now comfort means the opposite of everything natural, the opposite of this overwhelming reality. Comfortable means dark, quiet and familiar. With senses artificially heightened, I must take matters into my own hands; bring the stimuli back down to acceptable, ignorable levels. I’m speeding home now, air filling my lungs and blood pumping to my muscles. Powered by desire, fear and intoxicants; excitement grabs hold of my mind sending it racing. I must get home as quickly as possible, avoid every aspect of this bright, loud, active morning. I arrive at home and my mind is tackled with an immediate need to darken the room. As I try to suppress this sensation I realize how unsupresable it is, I leap up determined to rejoin the dark. A state as close to sleep is desired although obviously unattainable. I must now rely on my mind to create an atmosphere resembling unconscious tranquility free from perception. I wonder how my friend is holding up, left to his own devices, mental facilities and personal whims. How much light is invading his sanity and I wonder if similar ridiculous, fleeting thoughts are being pondered about me? As necessity is the mother of invention, I devise a plan and put it to action to combat the light. Cognitive ability, patience, energy, and materials, these are my limited resources. I study the invading light and find a weakness. For a moment a chain of thoughts collide and present a solution. For a moment I am filled with excitement; setting my mind to task with such immediate results is reassuring and surprising especially given the circumstances. Reeling from my conquest, my brain, inspired develops philosophical theories then moments later proving there validity before being forgotten as my mind continues to race. Times like these call for way of quickly transferring thoughts to a medium that can be scrutinized and pondered when sober. I wish I had a tape recorder. The chaotic processes of my mind continue, preventing me from obtaining what I want most; sleep.