Home in the dark (Two)

Home in the dark

The nightmares did not come again, but neither did the sleep that he sought, his eyes closed and he could just see the darkness, even the street beyond his apartment was practically silent, no more gunshots had followed and only the occasional vehicle could be heard passing in the street below.

He did not want to open his eyes, perhaps if he kept them closed long enough then he would fall asleep, even a light one would be a welcome relief at this moment, the urge to open his eyes growing as did his frustrations.

He had no sense of time whatsoever, hours could have passed and the sound of the alarm on his phone would tell him that it was time to open his eyes and start a new day, a new day where he felt a little worse than the day before.

Would checking the time help? would knowing that hours had passed and he could at least see that as some form of rest or would his frustration just boil over if only a short time had passed?

Of course, the problem with doing nothing is it leaves you with too much time to think, he wondered what things would start to sneak into his thoughts, would it be random things of a whimsical nature or something far darker, he hoped for the former but would have put money on the latter.

He considered counting for a moment, just letting the numbers roll by in his head and at least give himself some sense of time, a little perspective on things and who knows, it could have sent him to slumber?

He let a long slow breath escape from his mouth, he could feel his chest rise and then slowly fall as he tried to find that space and the peace that was supposed to come with it.

Something did not feel right, he had struggled before but tonight something was definitely not good, he let his eyes open slowly expecting the brightness from the street lights.

But nothing, he looked towards the window and could see no light at all, he could still feel the tantalising breeze that came through the open window but could see no lights beyond that window.

He let out a sigh of exasperation and rolled to one side and brought his feet down onto the floor and now sat facing the window, the silence still seeming unnatural for this place.

With his feet firmly placed against his bedroom floor, he rose from the bed and moved closer to look into the street beyond and saw that none of the street lights were lit up.

He looked slowly from left to right and could not make out any lights at all, no windows or doorways, just darkness covering the street and the building opposite his own.

He let his hands rest on the edge of the window frame, his palms pressed downwards as he continued to scan the street and could find no source of light nor any living person.