
Photo by Sue Vincent
3 AM.
Why is it always 3 AM? Why not midnight, when it was easy to drift back to sleep? Or 5 AM, when it didn’t matter since the night was already old?
But 3 AM?
Bev rolled over and closed her eyes. After a long time she opened them and stared at the wall.
No use.
She flopped onto her back and studied at the ceiling in great detail for hours.
Back to the clock.
3:01.
Really? One freaking minute?
She went back to the staring at the ceiling position.
Work was awful. Matt, her boss, nitpicked everything she did. It was never right, there was always something.
Worse, he made it obvious that he wanted to sleep with her.
No, he never said anything nor did anything too obvious. Sexual harassment was frowned upon in the organization and there were lines even Matt wouldn’t cross, knowing his job was on the line.
And yet he made it obvious.
She rolled over, trying to drive Matt’s stares and hints out of her mind.
But then Becca came up.
School was a real hardship for her. She didn’t fit in. Nothing was going right. The kids picked on her and her grades were heading down. The teacher, of course, blamed it all on her. 100%.
Bev rolled over to stare at the wall.
Was she going to be able to cover the mortgage this month? Dirk hadn’t paid alimony or child support in months. He seemed to have dropped off of the face of the Earth. What he was supposed to pay was little enough and she didn’t live extravagantly, that was for sure, but it was enough to keep her head above water. Barely. When he made the payment.
The night grew deeper and darker as the troubles piled up higher and higher. It began to grow stifling.
It was too much. Bev got up and got dressed. She peeked into Becca’s room. Sound asleep. Good.
Bev slipped from the house and let the door whisper shut behind her.
She hadn’t looked at the clock for ages. Had ten minutes passed and it was still only a quarter after three or had hours gone by?
The sky began to brighten, as if in answer to her question.
She walked out into the fields, away from the houses, away from her troubles, her mind blank in a zen-like trance.
The glow grew from just a faint bit of less black sky to a little real color.
The color of her mood began to echo the color of the sky.
Perhaps there were other things she could do.
Meg, her second level manager, had always liked her and helped. Perhaps there was a way she could be moved to another section. In fact, didn’t Meg just last week tell her to come see her anytime anything bothered her? The door was always open. And Jim, Meg’s boss, was wonderful too.
Becca. What about Becca? She wasn’t that fragile and she did have friends. Becca’s “BFF”, Abby, was a rock. In a good way. Bev had planned on having lunch with Abby’s mother on Saturday. They’d discuss it and figure something out.
One by one the problems melted away as the bright sunlight slowly lit the clouds on fire.
Bev came to a sudden stop and let her mind go blank as she drank in the beauty of the daybreak.
She nodded to herself and turned towards home.
It wouldn’t be easy, but she would survive. Becca would survive.
It was the dawning of a new day.
***
This was written for Sue Vincent’s writephoto challenge. The lovely photo at the top of the page was provided by Sue for the challenge, as was the keyword “Daybreak“.
Pingback: Photo prompt round-up: Daybreak #writephoto | Sue Vincent's Daily Echo
I can relate to so much in this piece. Lying awake, counting hours which turn out to be minutes, job difficulties, grim mood… why do bad thoughts tend to pile up on each other? They never come one at a time!
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Not only do bad thoughts pile up on each other, but they all seem to show up in the middle of the night…
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Liked this immensely. Seeing the birth if a new day can indeed raise our spirits, fill us with hope and put things into perspective.
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Often with the new day comes new insight and new hope, or at least the optimist in me likes to believe ;) Thanks.
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You’re welcome
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Pingback: Daybreak ~ Trent P. McDonald #writephoto | Sue Vincent's Daily Echo
Reblogged this on Where Genres Collide Traci Kenworth YA Author & Book Blogger and commented:
I can so identify!
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I think we all know that 3 AM feeling. Thanks.
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Yes, I’m sure, lol.
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I like how you went full circle with your story. Hoping the next night there will be less to cause insomnia.
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Thanks. Yes, hopefully she will sleep peacefully with a few less things to worry about….
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Lovely story, Trent. I like how all the troubles melt away with the beautiful pause to admire the sky.
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Thanks, Diana. Sometimes that dawning of a new day can push a person’s mind in the right direction…
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Very nice, so true and I hate those nights where I can’t sleep and those thoughts invade my mind! A new day dawning! As everyone has stated, love the ending. 😉
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A new day, new hopes… I hate those stupid thoughts that creep in when you can’t sleep. Thanks :)
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Very true to life. Thanks for the story, Trent.
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Thanks, I’m glad you liked it :)
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I usually wake up at 4 AM, and didn’t fall asleep until 2 AM. My room is dark so I don’t stare at the ceiling.
Good story, Trent.
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I’m a light sleeper and wake up at all sorts of weird times, but for some reason 3 AM always seems the worst… For me, even if I’m super wired, if I am lying down in the dark, I try to keep my eyes closed, so no staring at the ceiling or walls… Thanks.
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So am I, Trent. We get a little light from the skylight outside of the room even when the door is closed. I wear eye mask.
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Time stands still when you wake in the night. Nice one Trent.
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I’m sure we’ve all had those timeless nights, staring at the ceiling… Thanks.
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I love the way you tied it all up at the end. So good so positive . Everything looks better in the morning 💜
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I love the way you tied it all up in the end and it was so real, so positive! Everything looks better in the morning 💜
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Thanks, Willow. Typically those monsters are much smaller when exposed to sunlight, or maybe it’s our attitude that is bigger in that new day :)
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I agree with both thoughts 💜
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I know nights like these all too well (though mine never paid a penny towards his children’s needs). Dawn is always a new beginning.
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I think everyone has had these nights, though the thoughts may be different – sorry that he didn’t pay a penny! Some cliches, but dawn is a new beginning and it is always darkest just before that dawn.
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Yes, we do. ( And there was a good side to that too… he didn’t interfere either ;) )
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That is so inspiring and so true! Our problems seem so much more when we lay with only them. I am an optimist and believe in reevaluating problems to find some good.
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Things are darkest just before the dawn…. For whatever reason, problems seem much worse at 3 AM than any other time. I do have that optimist side to me and am always on the lookout for the silver lining.
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Yes, I try….I try…
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No matter how dark the night, the sunlight always brightens it.
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Yes, things look brighter by the light of day.. or so we hope!
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What a heartening daybreak scenario to wake up to, Trent. Even if I have been up for 4 1/2 hours….
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Thanks, Violet. I’ve been up about 4 hours, but that is typical for a work day for me. I hope you had a good “daybreak” :)
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I like this. Nice story
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Thanks, Alethea.
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