That was ten years ago, ten long years ago. I sat at the table with the candle off to the left side of me. The orange cast wasn't the ideal light source, but turning a light on would risk someone waking up. Our houses are all connected. They all have a garage and a full house but the right side of our house touches the neighbor's garage and our garage touches the left side neighbor's house. Even if it the walls are thick the windows don't hide much from the people across the street. So I keep my light and sound as small as possible.
I was writing down the latest book that came to me. Most of my books come in dreams, but I have to keep that secret too. People don't dream anymore because of their lack of imagination. The pencil lead made a scraping noise on the paper. I could hear soft footsteps coming down the stairs. The creaking boards made my stomach tighten. I stopped writing and waited, watched. My mom came into view and
walked towards me. She had her arms crossed across her chest. Her face was droopy with sleep and her eyes were half closed as she swayed towards me.
"Aisling? What are you doing awake at this hour? We have work tomorrow." Her voice was groggy and just above a whisper. The silence was fuzzy like it was slowly waking up from a deep sleep.
"I'm working on writing down the latest idea that was sent to me." I whispered. I didn't want to take any chances of someone hearing.
"Okay. Well don't stay up too long; I don't want you falling asleep on the job." She giggled clearly remembering the time I really had fallen asleep.
"Okay Mom, I won't be long." She smiled and turned to leave. She walked up the stairs and the house was once again silent. I looked around me at the dark room and waited as her footsteps faded. I finished writing the details and closed the book. I snuffed out the candle and sighed, closing my eyes.
