The Night Shift

12:07am Monday

"Western Star Storage, may I help you?"

"Hello?"

"Is anyone there?"

"This better not be a prank call..."

"Okay I'm going to hang-"

"Hello? Sorry I forgot to lock my phone before I put it in my pocket."

"Oh, hi. No it's fine"

"Are, are you busy right now?"

"Um, I mean I'm working at the moment. But, what can I do for you?"

"I-I, uh, I just need someone to talk too for a bit."

"Um, sure? I guess."

"Thanks, I'm Selene by the way."

"Pretty name. I'm Brenner,"

"It's uh, nice to meet you,"

"Ditto, you sound kind of young. Shouldn't you be sleeping, don't you have school in a couple of hours?"

"Yeah, I'm a senior. And I can't sleep. If I'm bothering you, I can just hang u-"

"No, no it's fine really. I was super bored anyway. I work the night shift at Western Star Storage, so there's nothing to do."

"Okay, if you're sure,"

"Positive. How come you can't sleep? Are you stressed about an assignment or something? I'm at college and sometimes when a deadline is coming up I can't sleep, and I stress about everything. I worry about if I've been writing the right things or if I've covered everything and... And I'm rambling. Sorry,"

"That's okay. I wish it was just stress. I have insomnia."

"Oh, that's tough."

"Yeah, but I've had it for a while now, so I've kind of adapted."

"How long have you had it? If you don't mind me asking,"

"No that's okay, I've had it for about six years now."

"Wow, so what, do you like sleep during the day instead? Or do you not sleep at all?"

"I do sleep, a little. I have like naps and stuff, any longer and I-. I only sleep for about an hour at a time and then I have to spend a couple of hours trying to get back to sleep."

"I'm sorry, I don't know what I'd do if I didn't sleep properly."

"It's not your fault, and I manage,"

"Hey! You just yawned, that's a good sign right? That means you're getting sleepy, right?"

"You sound so excited. And yeah, I am getting a bit tired. Thanks for talking to me, talking helps sometimes."

"Anytime, it's not like I was doing much else. The night shift is boring as hell, but the pay is good."

"Well I guess I'm going to see if I can get some sleep, it was nice to meet you."

"Oh yeah, sure. I hope you have a good sleep. It was nice to meet you Selene. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, and Brenner?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you, really."

"You're most welcome, now get some sleep."

"Night"

"Goodnight"

(...)