Nightbird

Slowly, awakened of some unknown place ..Opened her eyes to a dimly lighted room, unaware of the time. Unaware of how long she'd been sleeping, or how long it had been since she had awoken. Her eyes dart to the window, to see a sliver of silver moon from the curtains, telling her it was past midnight.

She mused to use her typewriter, but seeing the time, knew it was too late for that. Too late to record her strangest of dreams, most confusing, most perplexed. She sighs and sits up in bed, looking at the tangled covers at her feet, reaching to pull them back. Snuffles was no where to be found, and she doesn't check to see where she went. Slowly, she lays back down, putting her arms behind her head, looking at the clock. 12:30 AM. She sees that the alarm isn't set, and pushes the button forward with a click. She lies there for a while yet, staring at the ceiling. Hears footsteps in the darkness. She wonders if she's had dinner, and faintly goes over her dream in her head. Sits up again, to shuffle out towards the bathroom, only to see the yellow glow from the window, that it's occupied. She decides, as now is the first time she woke up for a long time, to go upstairs. Rubs her eyes, sits down on the wide swiveling chair. 'Do I have any homework..?' she wonders, but then is reminded of the field trip. 'Oh yeah..' She thinks upon the fact that she'll need two pencils, and fifty cents to make it home on the bus. Ponders a while of how to get there, from the UW. 'Bus 71, 72, or 73... Fifty cents.. The Ave..' She twists around in her chair, checks for a friend, but finds no one there. She had expected, half-heartedly, to run into Nikhil. She rubs her eyes again slowly, adjusting to the bright light of the screen, smirking to herself wondering if he'll be there in the morning, and if she should bother. Sitting there, she thinks of her dream, having trouble remembering.

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You walk down the hall, with Sophie and Amanda, and you hear a strange sound in the distance. Unaware of what's going on, you ask your friends for fifty cents. "Will you be taking the bus, too?" "Yeah, most likely." "Can I borrow fifty cents..?" Amanda reaches into her pocket and pulls out two quarters, and you nod your thanks. You continue down the hall, until you reach the door and file outside. "What are all these people doing..?" You look towards the crowd of people, and what looks to be an odd sort of parade. "Am I forgetting something..? Is today a holiday..?" You look at Sophie, but she just shrugs, just as clueless as you. You watch, see people in stilts, and you can hear some sort of music. You look towards the busses, wondering if your bus is there. You squint at the numbers, but don't see your bus, bus 273. But, strangely, you swear that you see your first and last name on a window of a bus. You rush towards it, looking, but see that it does not, and only appeared to. You see that your bus isn't there, and walk down the hill. You go down to a place you've never seen, but somethings seem familiar. You can see the ravine from here, spiraling down with moist dirt paths, and you can hear children shouting and laughing. You walk towards the footbridge, and find in your hands, a cello.. Where did it come from? You hold it on your shoulder, gripping the bottom. You feel suddenly dizzy as you reach the start of the footbridge, and though wide, you can't stop thinking of the drop on the sides, past a short railing. You are stopped by someone, an old man, it seems. He tells you "You kids can't take the bridge! And especially you, with that cello!!" You look behind you, seeing children. "you'll likely fall before you cross!" You sigh, and turn around, wondering where to go. You look into the eyes of a little girl, and watch as she runs down a path, down into the ravine. You follow her slowly, feeling off-balance on the muddy path. You walk down, past the groves of trees, the ferns, down deeper into it. You hear the children shouting, giggling. You cross to the other side, and climb slowly up the side of the ravine, to where the other children are. They look down at you, and even help you up as you stumble slightly, and reach the top. You sigh and brush yourself off, keeping a grip on your cello. You see a woman, likely the mother of the kids there, and you give her a slight smile.

You walk into a room, your mom is there, as well as many of the other students in your class. You wonder if you should be in here.. Obviously not your home, obviously no one's. You look around, seeing many pictures of what looks to be 80's rockstars, and you see posters of other things. Set down on the shelves, are many beautiful books, with mystical creatures spiraling the covers, and intricate fairies that seem to glow. You smile, because she must be like you, and you can picture living here yourself. Behind a wall, through a door-frame, emerges a woman. She looks confused at the students in her room, and you quietly explain, trying to find a good excuse, that we're "just taking a peek" and you ask if you all can stay for a while. She nods, and everyone sits down in chairs, and watch the tv, playing a movie. After a while, it's time to go, and you chuckle to yourself. "I swear, this could have been my house, it's so much like me!" a girl looks at you, looks around the rubble of books and posters, "are you serious..?" "yeah" you say sheepishly. As you walk out the door, you hear you mother say, "why, this could have been your house.." and you give the girl a knowing smile, laughing that your mom knows you far too well.
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The nightbird, sleepy but far too awake for such a time. 1:27 AM.. I should sleep soon. Now, actually. Goodnight.