It was past midnight, but Zebby couldn't sleep. She didn't even try to fall asleep. She laid down in bed, curling herself into a ball but her eyelids refused to close themselves. Zebby could only hum amidst the somber silence. 
It was one of their nights again.
Her house felt bigger than it usually does, more empty and hollow. She was alone taking up the smallest space possible as she lay cooped up in bed so it would be wrong to say that what she felt wasn't true. But that loneliness only grew by the second as the tick of the clock engulfed her whole room and soon her whole head.
Every tick surfaced with a cacophony of coughs in the distance at the back of her mind. Every tock drew the face of a man smiling, appearing and disappearing in a pulsing and aching hallucination that played in front of her wide-open eyes. It was all too painful and it left her paralyzed for most of the night.
It's been years since her father died. She's lost count of how many birthdays of hers have passed without him or the number of ice cream cakes she had missed because he's no longer there to make them. She tried once to make one on her own as the nostalgia kicked in a year after his death anniversary. She never tried again after that.
It just doesn't taste the same without him. She regretted not asking him for a recipe. Then again, no one knew that he'd die just like that.
Zebby could've sworn that her father would die because of his age. She'd imagine such dread that he would die upon his deathbed, crippled and delirious from the toll of life-sucking his breath away. With every wrinkle and the change of pace in his strides, Zebby would paint a painful picture that she would try to whisk away as his bright smile shone upon him like the sun in the sky. She was guilty of thinking about his death ever so often that she punished herself in her own ways whenever the time arises.
Then came the greatest punishment of all. Her father, who died in a car accident, was gone. No one could have expected that to happen, especially her. It was so sudden that she didn't have time to prepare herself at all.
Now, Zebby was alone with her thoughts, the only thing accompanying her through the night. That alone was enough for her of a reason to stay awake and avoid having any dreams Nightmares.
The sun passed through the cracks of her curtains from the window beside her bed. It was already morning. The thoughts strayed her away from the consciousness of time. Finally, Zebby closed her eyes, the morning turning into her bedtime as her internal clock rang in a messy schedule.


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Zebby couldn't remember what time she woke up. She only vaguely remembers stirring in bed and opening her eyes in the glare of the midday sun. Her whole body was drenched in sweat, her muscles sore. Sleep did nothing to rejuvenate her and instead had left her exhausted.
"That's what you get for staying up the whole night," she scolded herself, willing her to stop complaining. It wouldn't otherwise cure her raging headache.
She couldn't remember being able to get into the shower at all and was surprised she had even managed to take a bath without hurting herself any more than she is currently aching.
She felt sore and she wanted to cry. There's no way to rest. No time and no place either. Even if she tried, her head would only ruin the moment with its nonsense banter. She wishes it could just shut up for a whole day so she could sleep like her soul was sucked out of her. Maybe then she would be at peace.
The papers in front of her weren't helping her case either. If anything, it only makes everything worse.
The numbers didn't go down no matter how much her eyes went over them. It remained hauntingly too much for her and their little ice cream shop. If magic could have been real, she would wish these would all just disappear.
Which reminds her, there was supposed to be a meteor shower last night. She didn't have the chance to see it because her curtains were all draped down like they usually were. She wasn't much of a superstitious person, but it wouldn't hurt to have a little hope.
On second thought, it would hurt.
Having to crush what little hope was left would be the death of her. It's better not to expect anything, or at least expect for the worse so she would be able to prepare.
Her phone chimed from inside her pocket. She happily fished it out to see who sent her a message. She texted her only employee a while ago about hanging out.
Rebecca, who she knew once as this mischievous kid who liked her routine Sunday ice cream. Now she was more rebellious than childishly naught. Teenagers.
Rebecca seemed like she had things in her mind yesterday when she asked him for dinner. Zebby had wished to have someone around for dinner, especially with all the rambling of problems and nightmares. Someone to talk to would be more than nice.
"Hello, I don't know if you remember me. I'm George, Rebecca's boss from the cafe where she's also working part-time in. Have you heard something going on with her yesterday? She called in sick today but I don't think that's all there is. I was hoping you should know," the message read.
She did remember and knew who George was, though she sort of forgot because he rarely visited or dropped by. But what she did not know was that Rebecca was sick. That was worrying,
Zebby checked her phone for any message from her and sure enough, she found Rebecca's reply to her earlier texts.
"I'm sorry, Zebby. I've caught a cold today. I wouldn't be able to eat pizza with you today. I don't think I'd be able to come to work either. I'm really sorry. I'll make it up to you, promise!"
Zebby sighed glumly as she finished reading it.
She was just talking about expecting the worst to avoid any disappointments, yet here she is bummed down just for the same reason.
She's gotta learn how to live up to her words. Someone could have heard her say things out loud and then witness the sight of in. That would be embarrassing.
It was a little bit suspicious that Rebecca turned in sick, but it didn't worry her as much as this George person was. Maybe because she doesn't know the kid at a personal level? She heard she was working at a family friend's business. Zebby assumes that must have been George's business. If that's true, the guy would know her better than she would.
But just in case, she replied to his message with what she has observed so far.
She did notice that Rebecca was a bit out of it these last two days. Aside from that, she was pretty unsocial as well. Though Zebby supposed that it was more of an innate attitude than something serious.
She could be wrong though.
You never actually know what a person's brain thinks about telling such important things. It is both a blessing and a curse. For the most part.