Falling Awake Novels & Stories

DAMIEN I wake up to the sound of waves crashing against the shore, a rhythmic reminder of the paradise we’re supposed to enjoy. My eyes flutter open, and for a moment, I’m disoriented. The room is filled with light, the curtains billowing softly in the breeze. I sit up, feeling the weight of the previous night’s decisions settle heavily on my chest. The bed is empty beside me, as it has been for the past few nights.

"The most terrifying moment is not when you fall. It's the morning after, when you wake up and realize you don't regret it." ZYRAN I was awake before the sun came up. That wasn't unusual. I rarely slept past four, my brain refusing to stay offline for longer than a few hours. There was always something pulling me back to consciousness — a strategy to refine, a threat to calculate, a problem demanding to be solved before the rest of the world even opened its eyes.

I woke at three in the morning with a sound coming out of my throat that I did not recognise as my own voice. It took me several seconds to understand what was happening, that I was awake and in my room in Nightfall and not back in the ceremonial circle, because the rejection bond had been so vivid in the dream that the boundary between sleeping and waking had dissolved completely.

With a mixture of fear and longing coursing through her veins, Ava took a hesitant step forward, knowing that her life would never be the same again. As her hand reached out to make contact, she was jolted awake by a sudden drenching sensation, accompanied by a harsh voice piercing through her slumber. “Rise and shine, lazybones! There’s work to be done, so quit lounging around like a sloth.”

Winter semester awaits, promising new beginnings and a chance to escape the relentless ghosts of my past. The piercing sound of my phone alarm breaks the silence of the morning, jolting me awake from a restless sleep. With a groggy hand, I reach over and fumble to silence the obnoxious noise. The room is dimly lit, casting long shadows on the walls. As the remnants of sleep fade away, a heavy realization settles in my chest—I need to leave before she wakes up. Reluctantly, I throw off the covers and slide out of bed, trying not to disturb the peacefulness that still lingers in the room. My movements are swift and purposeful as I hastily put on my clothes.

I struggled until I dozed off. ~ I slowly drifted back into consciousness, my mind groggily emerging from the haze of sleep. As my senses began to awaken, a wave of confusion washed over me. I found myself lying on a cold, hard surface, disoriented and unaware of my surroundings. Panic surged through my veins, as I struggled to make sense of my situation.

Similarly, I know that my body always has a certain limit, I didn't expect to overcome it but the consequences are… My body has no strength to return to bed. I hope I can control my sleepiness. The echo is my moderate snoring, don't get me wrong, my snoring is real, it only happens when I'm too tired and stressed. I fell except on the chair, and the fall made me completely awake. At first, I looked around bewilderedly like a fallen child and needed to find an adult to cry for relief, and receive attention. Me too: U are heaven? What's that?" I put one hand on the armrest of the chair, and forcefully stood up on my own, drooling down my throat.

Faith's Pov: I woke with a gasp, my chest tight as if I had just run a marathon in my sleep. The nightmares were relentless, plaguing my every dream. I hadn’t had a peaceful night’s sleep since I was a child. Every time I tried to close my eyes, I was pulled into a nightmare that felt too real, too vivid. I blinked rapidly, my gaze falling to the alarm clock next to my bed. Three in the morning. Of course. I groaned in frustration, flopping back down onto my pillow, my body a tangled mess of frustration and exhaustion.

Zoey It’s not until I hit the floor that I wake up. It’s not the sort of thing that happens gradually, like when I wake from sleep. No easing back into consciousness, no slow awareness of my surroundings, and the fact that I was asleep only a second ago. No, this hits right away like a speeding train plowing into me and tearing me to pieces.

Maya I wake up before my alarm. Which is never a good sign. People who wake up before their alarms fall into two categories: 1. Extremely productive adults. 2. People whose anxiety beat the alarm clock to the punch. Unfortunately, I’m category two. I stare at the ceiling for a long moment, tangled in my blankets while the room sits in that strange gray space between night and morning. Quiet. Still. Normal. At least for about ten seconds. Then I remember. Dad.