What To Do At 1 Am Novels & Stories

Why can't I sleep? Everywhere is silent and calm like typical nights. I look at the time, it is almost 1am. God this is so unfair. Maybe I should walk around a bit. Maybe get water from the kitchen. I shouldn't but I am bored. Sleep is still far from me. And I don't want to continue thinking about things. I feel hurt the more. I wish I could cook something now. Only that can get things off my mind. Making up my mind to be super careful, I get off my bed quietly and head out quietly.

As I quietly slipped out of Penny's embrace, the neon numbers of the clock reading 4:15 am glowed in the darkness. I paused, savoring the peaceful sight of her sleeping. Resisting the urge to shower — an action becoming more of a compulsion than a necessity — I headed towards my office instead. I knew there, amidst my technological sanctuary, I could delve into work without disturbing her slumber.

I have come to this realization at 2am in the morning. 2:00am – 9 November 2021 I find it difficult to sleep – my eyes close but they refuse to stay that way. So I stop trying , in stead I begin to look around my dimly lit room. My night light shines just a tiny bit of light into my room ; stars from the night light decorate my walls and ceilings. I begin to trace a couple of the stars until my hand feels heavy and plops down to my side.

Amelia's quick and panicked tone jolts me awake, I watch as she frantically pulls her hair up into a ponytail and pulls a different colour sock onto her foot. "It's four am you can't for a walk right now" I begin, easing the covers off of my legs and stand up. It's the middle of the night and London is not a safe place for 4 am walks, I'm not sure of any place where a 4 am walk is a safe and rational thing someone does.

That was when I looked down to see that I was already done with my glass. "Geez!" I let out and dropped the glass back on the table before I got up to my feet and did a little strech. I stared at the time; it was still one am on the morning, I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep by then, I needed something to do to tire me out so I could go to bed but even as I searched my head, I couldn't seem to find anything to do that would tire ne out. I stood rooted to the spot for a while until I agreed to move out of the room to go check up on Astrid.

My eyes grow heavy and I slip into the wonderland. Not for long, however. I wake up with a start at the loud knocks landing on the door. Groggily, I glance at the clock. It’s 1 AM, and the knocks keep coming. What the hell? Is this a nightmare or someone is actually at my door? I have every intention to yell and ask the knocker to come later. But the kids are next door and not to forget it would be highly inappropriate to just scream and go back to sleep. What if there was something urgent? What if the house was on fire?

None of them were why I was doing it. Are you okay? Eleven p.m. became midnight. Midnight became one. One became two. I lay in my bed in my Koreatown apartment with the windows cracked and the cello neighbour mercifully silent, watching the text that wasn't being answered. Koreatown at two a.m. is its own kind of quiet. The dumpling houses are closed. The karaoke bars across the street have powered down. The street sweeper went by an hour ago. There's the soft hum of the building. The fridge is doing its fridge thing. Just me, in the dark, on my side of the wall, waiting.

I took out my phone and sent Ralph a casual message, but he didn't respond. It was past 1 a.m., and I had a morning shift. Expensive wine really does hit differently. I managed to change into my nightwear and dozed off as soon as my head touched the pillow. ***

My thumb hovers over the message icon. I could text. Ask if he's still coming. But I don't want to come across as clingy or impose too much and he refuses to go ahead with our deal. I set the phone face-down and roll over to stare at the ceiling trying to sleep but it doesn't come. At 2 a.m, I slip out to take a stroll, the resort halls are silent. I come across a library with ceiling high shelves of books. I pick a novel and curl into the window seat.

The dimly lit hallway of the mansion seemed to stretch on forever, the shadows dancing on the walls like specters of my guilt. It was 4:30 AM, the city still shrouded in the dark veil of night, the only sound the distant hum of the city outside the windows. I stood frozen, my heart heavy with the weight of what I was about to do.