Prompt: dystopia
It had started to happen again. Once outwith the regular sleep/work schedule, the circadian rhythms started jumping like a scratch in a record groove. The four in the morning wake-ups for no reason were back. Not due to anxiety when they started twelve years ago, but due to being furloughed.
Furloughed. Being kept apart from your work, your friends, and your life. Well the former is less missed than the other two, but at least it gave you a sense of purpose. Besides, the coffee at work was actually better than most other places.
I walked down the two flights of stairs from my flat to the street. It was just as empty at half-four in the morning as it was at this time during the day. The windows were closed, the blinds were down, the people were inside. When was the last time I’d spoken face-to-face with another stranger? Self-checkouts were being used as a matter of health, and all the shops and pubs were closed. I was down to one meal a day, but two bottles of wine also.
I leant against a tree, providing shade from the moon. It was a super/pink moon the other day. I had wanted to take a picture of it, but by the time I had remembered, it had changed back to the brightest white, partially obscured by clouds.
Then I saw the room with a light on.
A flat-screen TV affixed to the wall was off, but there was light from a lamp in their room.
I returned back inside to bed, waking up a few hours later with a coffee on the balcony. I could just about make out the window with the lamp, but in the daylight hours, I couldn’t tell if it was on from here.
Sure enough, it was just after four when I awoke. I slipped into my shoes, which is always an odd experience when you’re not wearing socks, and went downstairs to walk around in my pyjamas.
I walked in the opposite direction from the lamp house, and I looped back in my usual spot where the pavement sinks into the road, eventually making it back to the tree. Sure enough, the lamp was on.
Were they reading? Had they left it on before they fled for the countryside? Did they need it on as a security blanket? Why was it the only light on in the street? Oh, right. It’s four in the morning during a pandemic and a lockdown.
I looked up and saw that the light was off and then I was aware of my heartbeat as the soles of my feet flooded with cold sweat. My heels turned and I was back under my covers in record time. It was my turn to turn on my bedside lamp and pull out my notebook, clicking down on the pen.
“Day 17 of quarantine. Nearly saw someone. Not sure if they saw me.”
