Chapter 2

Eli woke up in silence. There was no alarm. It was still dark outside, so he presumed it was somewhere between midnight and dawn. To finally put his speculation to rest, he leaned over the side of his bed to check the time.

Alright, here we go again. Moment of truth.

The screen showed 4:45 A.M. It was fifteen minutes later than yesterday.

He sighed, feeling as if his body were sinking into the bed. His consciousness felt void—there wasn’t a single spark of motivation nor even a tiny ember of the so-called will of fire. He didn’t feel like doing anything today, but it wasn’t laziness. Strange as it was, it was nothing new. Every day was like this. As if the world had failed to give him permission to feel motivated. He was alive, but not lively. He couldn’t even tell what kept him moving whenever he thought about it.

“Did you sleep this time?” Naomi greeted him with a question. She was sitting at the dining table, reading one of her e-modules on her Android phone. “I’m thinking you did, given that you’re a bit later getting up than yesterday.”

Eli filled a glass with warm water and added half a teaspoon of iodized salt from a nearby jar before mixing it. He gargled the saline solution before speaking. “I did,” he paused and gargled once more. “I guess.”

“Unsure?” Naomi stopped reading and raised an eyebrow as she took a sip of her coffee.

“Well, I can’t remember.” Eli muttered. “All I know is I closed my eyes, and the next thing I knew, my alarm clock was roaring right next to me.”

“Then you were really sound asleep,” Naomi replied, a gentle smirk forming on her face. “You’re getting better, I see.”

“Am I? I don’t feel any different.” Eli sat across from her with a bowl of chocolate cereal swimming in skim milk.

“You know, ever since you—” Naomi suddenly winced, clutching her temples. “Argh!”

“What’s wrong?”

There was a moment of silence as Naomi pressed her temples, rubbing them in slow circles while breathing deeply.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, just a mild headache…” Her phone, placed beside her cereal bowl, rang. She double tapped the screen and glanced at it. “I—I have to go.”

“Already?” His voice sounded worried, though his face remained neutral, void of emotion. Eli tried to peek at what was flashing on the screen, but Naomi turned it off just in time.

She stood up and grabbed her neatly packed school bag, leaning against the legs of the chair she had been sitting on. “We still have a big project due today,” she said as she fixed the chair. “Take care of the dishes, okay?”

“Are you sure? You had a headache just seconds ago.”

“I’m fine. Just stress.” She chuckled lightly. “The dishes—don’t forget.”

“Fine. Be careful.”

In an instant, Naomi exited the house.

Eli smiled and shook his head. She’s always worried about me, but she never takes care of herself. He took another spoonful of cereal. Yet it wasn’t her condition that lingered in his thoughts—it was the incident she had mentioned but never explained. He searched his memory, but there was nothing. Not even a fragment.

Now that I think about it, I also couldn’t remember when or how my insomnia began.