I haven't slept in two days and additional two hours. That makes it fifty hours.
There were times when waking up on workdays seemed maddening. There were times when, being a twenty-three year old working adult felt like a good nap was as satisfying as getting rewarded.
But not in times like these.
I don't understand.
I can't sleep.
There's something wrong. There's something going on here, that I don't know. This is not my home.
Hell, this is not my world.
This atmosphere was bleak. I could stare at a wall and get lost in my head. And when that does happen, there's no one who'll pull you out of your train of thoughts.
They won't speak just to do that.
Five days ago, ever since I woke up that morning, I was met with deafening silence. They stare at you instead.
It's like they're saving their voices.
The world has fallen silent, all I ever hear are the engines of the vehicles. Or the doors closing. Sometimes it's just.. me. My breathing and my thoughts.
This is driving me insane.
My younger brother used to be the loudest during mornings, always hurrying to make it to his high school.
He didn't do that lately.
For starters, he walked into the kitchen, where I was already seated fumbling with my employee ID, and looked at me for a second, as if to greet me a good morning.
My younger brother, this isn't him.
The silence is infuriating.
"What?" I ask, unintentionally gritting my teeth.
He got his food from the counter and made his way to the chair in front of me on the other side of the table. Before he could dig in, I got off my seat.
I can't sit on the same table as them anymore. I would have loved to, but I cannot, when who I knew, isn't who they are.
Yes, I still lived with my parents, since I just couldn't move out. My temporary job did not pay enough to do so.
But I cannot live here anymore.
I heard my parents walk down, right when I was at the foot of the stairs. I waited for them to get off the pathway, so that I could head to my room.
Instead they stopped midway.
This was what I was talking about, when I said I don't know these people I'm living with. I could be calling them my dearest, my own mother, and my father, yet they were distant.
So distant, I could see it in their eyes.
They stare.
It isn't that they aren't capable of speaking, but they don't bother.
My employee ID was in my hands. I took one last look at it.
'Dane Griffin', was the first thing I read.
"What is it?" I asked, "What do you want?" My parents, they look at each other for a brief second, before looking back at me. "Answer me, damnit." I mutter under my breath.
I know I was terrified of the stares, but I had to get past them. I took off on the stairs, furiously making my way.
It's like I've swapped worlds and in this world, the only thing change is they don't speak as much. They look fixedly at you.
That is enough to drive me crazy.
I have to get out of here.
And I have to do it as soon as possible.