The Long and Short of It

I sat across from my wife, she sits closer to the fire, and we are enveloped by vibrant sounds that pulsate through the chairs and ease us into the night. Larissa with eye’s closed was either in a deep trance or falling asleep. As the firelight faded the embers shivered as an evening cold crept around our feet; it was time to retire for the night. The cool light of the lunar torch lit our way back to the house.

Our son, Raven, is home from college and those once familiar late night noises have returned. At eleven pm, I awake to the washer’s accelerated spin cycle, but I am too comfortable to get up, so I return to my dreams. Two hours later, my dreams are disturbed by a pack of yelping coyotes, but our chickens are not on the menu tonight. And with that comforting thought, I doze off.

Our house is typically quiet with an occasional thump of the cats having explored the counters and dining room table. Ordinary house sounds do not put my awareness on alert, but at 3 am when the latch to the downstairs bathroom door aggressively finds its rest it does. This degree of ultra-cautious privacy while being unaware of how much noise one makes has brought me out of my slumber. Before annoyance turned to aggravation, I gave up the notion of a good night’s sleep and got up. As soon as I descend the stairs, a cat left outside decides it is time to come in. Letting in the cat was undoubtedly the next reason lying in wait to disturb my sleep. By four am all possible scenarios had occurred and I was allowed to rest undisturbed for the next three hours.

Jeff Bailey © 2018