I wake up and my eyes are flooded with the appearance of nothingness. I give them a few seconds to adjust to the darkness that has overtaken my room. After a few seconds of adjusting I begin to make out the shapes and objects that make up my bedroom. I look over at the clock and see that it is almost half past midnight. I begin to wonder what could have made my mind awaken from the unconsciousness it had been in for about 3 hours. Then I feel it, the emptiness in the pit of my stomach that can only be hunger.
I had skipped out on dinner that night on account of the massive mountain of homework that was waiting for me in my room. I turn on the bedside lamp and see my cat, Lola, lying at the foot of my bed. She seems agitated. I whisk the blankets off of my still sleep ridden body and trudge across the room to the door. I hear a faint meow from behind me, and turn to see Lola jump off the bed and run to my side. Maybe she is hungry too. I try to keep my noise to a minimum due to my siblings sleeping one room over.
I reach the stairs that will take me to the place that may subdue the rumble in my body, the kitchen. Each step I take up the stairs takes more and more energy from my body. I cannot tell if this lack of energy is from my exhaustion or the fact that I need to start working out. The cat is still right on my heels, watching every move I make. I reach the top of the stairs with breaths that are heavier than when I began the climb. I walk around the corner and into the kitchen, trying to think of the contents of the pantry and refrigerator.
I only want a small snack. I open the pantry and see foods that would be considered ingredients such as rice, flour, sugar, and other foods that one would not consider an individually eaten item. I open the refrigerator and find a pudding cup and a small bag of almonds. I also find a half-eaten can of tuna that I grab for Lola since she also made the journey to come up here. After I have my midnight snack in order I begin the journey back to my room. Once I get down the stairs I am again winded.
The walk back down the hallway to get to my room on the end feels like walking through knee deep peanut butter. Every step feels forced and unmotivated. Once I get to my room, I lay the tuna down for Lola, which she doesn’t even touch, and devour the snack I had put together for myself. I turn the lamp off and feel Lola creep up the side of the bed to lie on the pillow next to mine, which she has now claimed as her favorite spot to sleep. The room is again flooded with darkness as I doze off back into unconsciousness.
