The following sequence was compiled with the invaluable help of
OldMiner
A figure sprawled on thick pile carpet. Rolling over, they blinked around, wondering for a moment where they were. A glance at the clock showed it to be five-thirty, it was
partially light outside. The figure stood up and stumbled to the kitchen, feeling
woozy and very confused. Half-way through his breakfast, another figure appeared, the mother of the first. Her conversation was confusing, but he didn't seem to notice, too busy trying to figure out what had happened during the past two days.
"How are you feeling?", her question was met with a shrug. "Are you going to be home for the rest of the day?"
"I should be home from uni about four" was his reply.
"It's already five-thirty", she looked at his bowl of
cereal.
"I know, I'll be going soon", he shovelled down the rest of his breakfast.
"Phil," his mother looked at him curiously, "it's five-thirty in the
evening".
The man stared back at her, dumbfounded, as he tried to think back. "It's not Friday morning?"
"No, it's Thursday evening."
{7_, ' = "! f, ' _4QQQQQQQQQQQI3
6jc-`, _ }_c}{{ ar c/ }
"=pc_/-~j|s_/ ' / 5c f.c4d'- f.d} \_"/ \7 .),?-- _ s ^`
:_-^^ _7}$-''~, }!, 'j/ ;c m'} \F\L7' ,-m! .a?4/ _`` .
'-\ -`\_ - ' ;{' ' a\a-" a" _a
' ..-^a/ . _/' _?' _
. aJ?6a/?aa/?' a ./ .. _/}
? ? "'a)!' "!' aw/ aW6/.QWQ6/ aw ? --? ?aa-._awWq-4fQQ
/ ?_a "P4Q??)WQ' 4Q?QWgaa _a,)!' aa"??.aJ
46 _a aW )6aaW??6aaQP? J?' aa/ a
a? )4gaaaW "4g Q/ /)??' ?
??P ? aj??)B' jf Qf )\aaaa/ a
)???? _aQ' )6 )QP )4aa/ ??a
???????P? 4/ _j? _QP' aQQa aaaaaaaaga
/ ?? }QQQaaQQaaa aQ4QQaaWQa _ )?4P
aaJ?? a )WQQ/ 46aaaayP? aQa? a ????' _
"? aa Q/ )WQaaajJQgja_yaaWf "_/ _a
- _jw)') ????Q?( - QQ??? "' ' '
\a_a a%? _"/', ? .' -?
=T^ - a?`_- /a/
\a - ,` a _, a, )L, a \`?) -
' , J_/\J!/ c !}r-`}. -\, aL-Y"(Q ~?
./'/ _J!`s?`}L ,'j" - -\ tY "Y \ }\_/
' _,,, ' - ` 6/_, -' -,= ^c d"_
' _(` m _a)' _3Qr' " _ ?/"
Wed 21:00 - Returning home after a
long day of
uni and
parkour training,
Phil ate, showered, then slumped behind his desk, physically and mentally
knackered, unkempt brown hair falling over his face. The young man flicked it perturbedly out of his way as he caught up on emails and E2.
Wed 22:00 - Another long day awaiting him, the man considered sleep, knowing he must be awake enough in the morning to use
power tools. Tired but knowing his body wasn't ready for sleep, he researched a work-in-progress
engineering project instead.
Wed 23:00 - An hour later, Phil broke off browsing
Oatley and
Jaycar,
Darlingtons became
good night darling and he was left alone. Climbing into bed, he closed his eyes and waited ...
and waited.
Thu 01:00 - Sick of the countless nights of poor sleep he was by now used to, a dejected figure returned to his keyboard. His frustration mounted as E2 page loads started timing out with increasing frequency, and he began running
traceroutes. Added to this, his
ISP routinely rebooted a critical piece of equipment, leaving him without a connection for twenty minutes. ...Back to bed.
Thu 02:00 - Phil decided to eat, not really having anything better to do. He didn't expect it to help him get to sleep. He
apologised to people for possibly being obnoxious in his current state of mind, but no one seemed to notice.
"Really, though, you need someone to talk to
?"
Eh, he was used to this, it'd been happening for years.
Thu 03:00 - The night dragged on, Phil's research shifted from
switchmode power supplies to
synthesising human milk. He tried again to sleep, but to no avail.
{7_, ' = "! f, ' _4QQQQQQQQQQQI3
6jc-`, _ }_c}{{ ar c/ }
"=pc_/-~j|s_/ ' / 5c f.c4d'- f.d} \_"/ \7 .),?-- _ s ^`
:_-^^ _7}$-''~, }!, 'j/ ;c m'} \F\L7' ,-m! .a?4/ _`` .
'-\ -`\_ - ' ;{' ' a\a-" a" _a
' ..-^a/ . _/' _?' _
. aJ?6a/?aa/?' a ./ .. _/}
? ? "'a)!' "!' aw/ aW6/.QWQ6/ aw ? --? ?aa-._awWq-4fQQ
/ ?_a "P4Q??)WQ' 4Q?QWgaa _a,)!' aa"??.aJ
46 _a aW )6aaW??6aaQP? J?' aa/ a
a? )4gaaaW "4g Q/ /)??' ?
??P ? aj??)B' jf Qf )\aaaa/ a
)???? _aQ' )6 )QP )4aa/ ??a
???????P? 4/ _j? _QP' aQQa aaaaaaaaga
/ ?? }QQQaaQQaaa aQ4QQaaWQa _ )?4P
aaJ?? a )WQQ/ 46aaaayP? aQa? a ????' _
"? aa Q/ )WQaaajJQgja_yaaWf "_/ _a
- _jw)') ????Q?( - QQ??? "' ' '
\a_a a%? _"/', ? .' -?
=T^ - a?`_- /a/
\a - ,` a _, a, )L, a \`?) -
' , J_/\J!/ c !}r-`}. -\, aL-Y"(Q ~?
./'/ _J!`s?`}L ,'j" - -\ tY "Y \ }\_/
' _,,, ' - ` 6/_, -' -,= ^c d"_
' _(` m _a)' _3Qr' " _ ?/"
Thu 09:00 - Phil blinked his eyes open, a familiar heartbeat beneath his head, but nothing else was familiar to him. He had no idea where he was, how long he had been there, or how he had come to be there.
A beautiful smile answered his first, but before he could ask any of the others, a "Honey, sleep" came from behind it as she gently pushed him back down. He obeyed
unresistingly, waking fully again shortly before noon.
Thu 14:00 - Phil stumbled into his room after returning home, collapsing onto the floor.
{7_, ' = "! f, ' _4QQQQQQQQQQQI3
6jc-`, _ }_c}{{ ar c/ }
"=pc_/-~j|s_/ ' / 5c f.c4d'- f.d} \_"/ \7 .),?-- _ s ^`
:_-^^ _7}$-''~, }!, 'j/ ;c m'} \F\L7' ,-m! .a?4/ _`` .
'-\ -`\_ - ' ;{' ' a\a-" a" _a
' ..-^a/ . _/' _?' _
. aJ?6a/?aa/?' a ./ .. _/}
? ? "'a)!' "!' aw/ aW6/.QWQ6/ aw ? --? ?aa-._awWq-4fQQ
/ ?_a "P4Q??)WQ' 4Q?QWgaa _a,)!' aa"??.aJ
46 _a aW )6aaW??6aaQP? J?' aa/ a
a? )4gaaaW "4g Q/ /)??' ?
??P ? aj??)B' jf Qf )\aaaa/ a
)???? _aQ' )6 )QP )4aa/ ??a
???????P? 4/ _j? _QP' aQQa aaaaaaaaga
/ ?? }QQQaaQQaaa aQ4QQaaWQa _ )?4P
aaJ?? a )WQQ/ 46aaaayP? aQa? a ????' _
"? aa Q/ )WQaaajJQgja_yaaWf "_/ _a
- _jw)') ????Q?( - QQ??? "' ' '
\a_a a%? _"/', ? .' -?
=T^ - a?`_- /a/
\a - ,` a _, a, )L, a \`?) -
' , J_/\J!/ c !}r-`}. -\, aL-Y"(Q ~?
./'/ _J!`s?`}L ,'j" - -\ tY "Y \ }\_/
' _,,, ' - ` 6/_, -' -,= ^c d"_
' _(` m _a)' _3Qr' " _ ?/"
Thu 04:00 - "You realise it is now
4am here
?" Phil was left alone again. He still clung to a hope that he might collapse shortly. Finally he had an idea, "It's 4:30am, should I go out?"
"Do you want to? Then you should
."
He requested a route plan from his
guidance system, unsurprised that the first bus for the morning wouldn't be for another hour. While he waited, Phil re-made his still unslept-in bed, and checked the weather report on the HF radio.
Thu 06:00 -
Silently, swiftly, shying from sleep
Summoning sunrise, a beautiful pink
A friendly feline feels his feet
Motorists wonder at the nocturnal traveller
Time inches, bus should be here soon
Surely that was only a few minutes ago, he thought? Time no longer made sense to Phil. He rested his eyes, checking the time every few minutes until suddenly he was changing buses
25km away after what he was sure was only about ten minutes.
Thu 07:00 - Phil was walking, no longer aware of where he was or where he was going or why. He passed a Church, he walked, everything was now just a blur. Arriving at a window, Phil fell against it, his breath fogging it up in the chilly morning air.
{7_, ' = "! f, ' _4QQQQQQQQQQQI3
6jc-`, _ }_c}{{ ar c/ }
"=pc_/-~j|s_/ ' / 5c f.c4d'- f.d} \_"/ \7 .),?-- _ s ^`
:_-^^ _7}$-''~, }!, 'j/ ;c m'} \F\L7' ,-m! .a?4/ _`` .
'-\ -`\_ - ' ;{' ' a\a-" a" _a
' ..-^a/ . _/' _?' _
. aJ?6a/?aa/?' a ./ .. _/}
? ? "'a)!' "!' aw/ aW6/.QWQ6/ aw ? --? ?aa-._awWq-4fQQ
/ ?_a "P4Q??)WQ' 4Q?QWgaa _a,)!' aa"??.aJ
46 _a aW )6aaW??6aaQP? J?' aa/ a
a? )4gaaaW "4g Q/ /)??' ?
??P ? aj??)B' jf Qf )\aaaa/ a
)???? _aQ' )6 )QP )4aa/ ??a
???????P? 4/ _j? _QP' aQQa aaaaaaaaga
/ ?? }QQQaaQQaaa aQ4QQaaWQa _ )?4P
aaJ?? a )WQQ/ 46aaaayP? aQa? a ????' _
"? aa Q/ )WQaaajJQgja_yaaWf "_/ _a
- _jw)') ????Q?( - QQ??? "' ' '
\a_a a%? _"/', ? .' -?
=T^ - a?`_- /a/
\a - ,` a _, a, )L, a \`?) -
' , J_/\J!/ c !}r-`}. -\, aL-Y"(Q ~?
./'/ _J!`s?`}L ,'j" - -\ tY "Y \ }\_/
' _,,, ' - ` 6/_, -' -,= ^c d"_
' _(` m _a)' _3Qr' " _ ?/"
Phil stared at his mother again. "Ok, I'll be home all evening".
Sleep smoke, don't breathe this!