Sleep
The sun was setting. The moon was only a sliver in the darkening sky as the stars started to shine in the blanketed sky. As the sun sank below the horizon a lonely boy sat on his bed watching as the day turned into night, and wondered what would happen next, if he would sleep.
This was the first time that he would be able to close his eyes, to sleep. What thoughts would cross his mind? What would happen? Would he dream or would a nightmare capture his mind? His mind was alight with questions to which he had no answers. He could only lie on his bed underneath the window and wonder as he gazed at the sky.
His eyes felt heavy and he could feel his lids close. He lay on his bed as a thousand pictures flew through his head. Thoughts of his tortured past, thinking of the friends he'd gained, and the sacrifices that he'd made. He could see the broken child that he had once been. He could see the crowd of people that had been round him as he had awoken from death. All the choices he'd made, all the places he'd been, every person he had had contact with… everything passed by his mind's eye. With his mind running over all that he had done in his life he knew that he would never be able to sleep, but his limbs were as heavy as stone and he could not move. Was this what was supposed to happen?
A shutter rattled as the wind blew past, and he instantly thought of the other that had once shared his head. Was the demon truly gone? Would he be able to rest, or was this all a cruel trick being played on his mind in order to devour his soul? How was sleep different than death? Would the ghosts haunt his mind and destroy him? How would he be protected? Would he be safe? What if something happened? The thought that he would be devoured by a named evil that had been part of him for so long was enough to keep him from sleep, but through his darkening thoughts a light flickered into existence. The demon was gone and he was safe here with his family and his first friend. His mind was suddenly at peace and he let himself fall into the unknown.
Whatever thoughts would plague his mind, whatever dreams he had, he knew that in the morning he would awaken once more. If his dreams were dark, if his nightmares brought back the phantoms of the past, they could not destroy him. He hoped to dream of flying, of soaring above the world below, which he could only hope to do in life. He would look down at the world below and he would see it for what it was. He had heard it said that in dreams you could be unfettered from the burdens of your soul. He knew that if he took this leap that if he fell there would be someone there to catch him in the morning, but he hoped that even if it was just this once, that he would soar upon unbroken wings.
And so he surrendered
And fell into
Sleep.