insomnia | e.jaeger

12 • bonfire

the three year old sat near the window, her elbows resting on the sill so her chin could rest between the palms of her hands. her big eyes watched as the rain continued to poor down, flashes of lightning coming every so often. the sound of a cartoon playing on the tv was heard as well as a soft hum from the older woman who sat in a rocking chair, sewing.

the little girl sighed which did not go unheard by the older woman. "what's wrong dear?"

"why doesn't mommy ever come home and play with me?" the little girl turns around and pouts, tears pooling in her eyes.

the older woman gives her a small, sad smile. she sets down her supplies, moving them onto the table next to her. she opened her arms wide, gesturing for the girl to come to her. the little girl ran from her spot and into her open arms, hugging the woman tightly. her lip wobbled as she refused to let her tears spill.

"your mom is out working hard to earn money to care for you." the woman lied, trying to come up with an excuse for the small child to comprehend. "but as long as i'm here, you won't be alone and i'll always be here to care for you."

_________

you awoke suddenly as the dream came to an end. a dream or old memory, you couldn't tell. the small girl did resemble you. you sighed, trying not to overthink it all as you sat up, stretching your limbs as a sweet aroma filled your nostrils. scratching the back of your head, you took a look at your surroundings and realized you were not in your dorm room.

"morning, sunshine." you heard a male voice say. yawning, you turned in the direction of the voice to see eren flipping a pancake in the kitchen.

"what time is it?" you muttered as you rubbed the sleep out of your eyes. before he could answer, you reached to grab your phone only to have your eyes widen as it read 9:02am. "shit! i'm so late!"

"chill." eren chuckles as he sees your frazzled state. "no classes today. did you forget it was a holiday?"

unlocking your phone, you looked at the date only to realize that he was right. it was a government holiday, meaning places like the courthouse, post office, and of course schools, were closed. another thing that caught your attention was the time. had you really managed to sleep almost 10 hours? you couldn't even remember the last time you managed to sleep more than four, besides the time eren called you.

"there's a brand new tooth brush on the counter in the bathroom for you and feel free to borrow my face wash if you need it." eren offered, pulling you from your thoughts.

you got off the couch with a nod, stretching your limbs once again and releasing a satisfied groan with your joints pop. another yawn is released as you stumble towards the direction of the bathroom. eren shakes his head at you with a small grin.

dragging yourself into the spacious bathroom, your met with your reflection. some mascara is smudged under your eyes and your hair resembles that of a bird's nest. your eyes land on a hairbrush with you quickly grab and usher through your hair. after untangling most of it, you tie it up with a hair tie that was conveniently already on your wrist. you then splash your face with cold water to wake yourself up a bit more before washing it and switching to brush you teeth. you scrunch your nose in distaste at your half assed attempt to freshen up, knowing that you'd rather have taken a shower but that was highly unlikely seeing as you had no other clothes to change into. sighing, you walk back into the living area only to see eren seated at his small table with pancakes, eggs and bacon plated.

"aw, you made me breakfast?" you tease.

after swallowing the contents in his mouth, eren says, "i made breakfast for me. i just so happened to have enough scraps leftover to feed you."