Pull The Bolt!

While I don't have problems sleeping for hours (my record is 17 hours with one pee break), I'm a very light sleeper when travelling, either alone or with a companion. No difference. Usually, I sleep in sportswear, clothes that look decent so that I could simply jump out and run out of the room. The friends are pretty used to seeing me wear a soft zipped jacket to bed. You could call me a tad paranoid.

Despite that, I do sleep all right outside of the home, just that the body is more attuned to unfamiliar sounds. Don't feel particularly tired in the day either. I travel too much to know how essential sleep is. It probably means that instead of longer NREM sleep-hours, during travel days, that's diminished. It's like when travelling, a five-hour sleep cycle is the norm instead of seven hours.

I don't often remember dreams. But last night, the dreams were so vivid that I was almost certain they were trying to tell me something. Jolted out of deep sleep, I didn't want to open my eyes. What if there's a ghost in the corner?! The brain refused to let me go to sleep. Had to get out of bed. The subconscious was reminding me that I had forgotten to latch the safety chain and double-bolt the not-sturdy front door of the hut. And I do mean hut. Zinc roof and all. By any other definition, this is nowhere near even a motel. You might wonder why I should bother to lock any doors or windows.

The watch read 3.10 AM precisely. Haizzz. Not much time left before the 6 AM wake-up call. Reluctantly, I crawled out of bed to lock that door. Already, the sounds of metal and whatnots contracting within the building were amplified by the silence of the surroundings. There were sounds of insects, birds, leaves rustling and waves. Strange sounds that will keep sleep away from a paranoid urban dweller.