"Battle of the Brains" by Justin Turner

Prompt: What does your sleeping dreaming mid think in the moments before you wake up? What are its last hopes, fears, or promises to itself as the alarm goes up and it feels itself vanishing?

            Ugh. 5:56. Four more minutes before I have to deal with him.  I don’t have time for his utterly happy thoughts or his complete laziness. There is work to be done, thinking to do!

            5:59. Here we go. 6:00. “Beep! Beep! Beep!”  I can feel Justin begin to move. Come on shut it off. Just a few steps to your alarm.  I try my best to keep him in a groggy state of mind as he slowly inches toward the alarm clock.  Just a few more steps!  I can feel my power over him slowly slip away as my pesky neighbor begins his day.  No. I’m not done yet.  Justin slams the alarm clock and as per usual I coax him back to bed. “Come on just more minutes,” I think to him.  After studying for chemistry the night before, he can’t resist and is soon back on his bed dreaming.  Phew.  He hadn’t finished solving his problem yet. Now he has a few extra minutes before he really has to go.  However I now have my own problem to deal with. 

            “Good morning!” I roll Justin’s eyes in his sleep as my arch nemesis comes for his turn. “How are you today?”

“I was fine until you came along,” I said expressionless.

He lets out a staged laugh, “Looks like you’ve taken some extra time again. You do realize it’s my turn.  There are things for Justin to do and learn you know.”

“No. You say that every morning, yet you still manage to make him procrastinate and watch TV instead of doing something truly productive; as a result of that you cut into my time at night when he’s trying to vigorously catch up because you just had to enjoy every little thing but what he needs to do. I’m the only one actually doing anything productive around here.  Just listen to what he’s dreaming about. He’s problem solving, without your distractions I might add.”

He smiles, and says, “He’s not learning anything! I supply those problems you so desperately want him to fix.  Listen to yourself; you need me!  I’ll give you until 6:15 today, but I expect an awake boy tomorrow at 6.”

“Fine,” I say full well knowing that tomorrow was Saturday and not even he wanted to work that early in the morning.  He disappears for a little while at least and I peacefully sit back and watch the beauty of sleep at work.

"The Toothbrush" by Lola Lane

I awoke in a panic. My dreams were scarier every night. I stumbled out of my bed and gingerly maneuvered my way through piles of clothes, books, and various dishes that littered my bedroom floor like land mines. I reached the bathroom, and followed the familiar passage to the lights, fumbling with them until they let me see. I turned on the metal tap and splashed cool water on my face to calm me down. I glanced at myself in the mirror only to see that my hair was frazzled and eyes squinted as they adjusted to the light. I broke the stare and looked down at the two toothbrushes standing side-by-side like man and wife. They stood up straight within their own islands that wobbled and toppled, but were created so that the toothbrushes would never touch the germy counter. The only difference between the two was the plastic color. One gleamed blue, marking my ownership, and the other was green, my dad’s favorite color. The head of my brush was severely worn down. It had been through the ringer of my mouth and was tired from protecting me from cavities.  My toothbrush was perfectly juxtaposed to the clean, pristine brush of my father’s. I yawned and stumbled groggily back to the comfort of my bed.

"BEEP" by Gatsby

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP.

I unwillingly roll over and shut off the alarm, and sit on the edge of my bed. The last thing I want to do in the whole world is get up and get ready for school. I force my stiff body to get up and walk downstairs and turn on the shower.  I sit down on the toilet as I wait for the water to heat up and feel myself almost nodding off to sleep. I realize it’s probably been long enough, stand up, slide the glass door to the side and start to get in. AHH! It’s still freezing cold! Now I’m sort of awake.. And grumpy.

*growl..* I’m already hungry too.

After another minute I test the waters again and it’s comfortable and I get into the shower. In what feels like a daze I wash my hair and body, and then let the hot water soothe my muscles as I fall asleep for 5 or so minutes leaning against the wall. BEEP BEEP. I almost fall over as I’m startled by the mini timer I set to 10 minutes and I force myself to turn off the comforting water and grab a towel.

After drying off, using cue tips in my ears, and brushing my teeth, I drag myself back upstairs. I sit down on my bed for a couple of minutes and muster up the strength to pick out my clothes and put my backpack back together as all of my schoolwork from the night before is strewn about the floor. I get up, throw on a random outfit, pick up my belongings, and grab my keys and my phone and head back downstairs and out the door. I hear the cowbell attached to my front door ring as I close it, and I grimace as I know my family won’t be happy with me for waking them up during my careless fog.

Jingle. Jingle.

I take longer than I should as I fumble to find the key to lock the door to my house, and also the key to open my car door. I finally sit down and throw my backpack in the backseat and start the car. If drowsy driving is truly equivalent to drunk driving, then I’m in trouble. At the first stop light I plug in my phone to my speakers and choose a Pandora station to listen to. At the second stop light I turn on the heat, as the engine is finally warm enough for the heater to do more good than harm.

Beep Boop Beep.

Once I arrive at my girlfriend’s house I get out and call her as I walk to her door. I see her beautiful face through the window next to the door and give her a good morning kiss as she lets me in. One of us makes breakfast, one of us makes lunch. Whether it’s a bacon egg and cheese bagel or eggo waffles, we always have a delicious breakfast. Oh crap! It’s 7. We grab our lunches and head back out to my car and drive to school.

BEEEEEEEEEEP.

Our school days begin.

"Morning" by Justin Turner

At six o'clock I wake up to the annoying beep of my five-minute fast alarm clock and groggily get up into the seemingly cold air only to hit the snooze button and tumble back a few steps into my safe, cozy, and warm bed. Just as I drift back to sleep however, "BEEP BEEP BEEP." Once again I stumble out of bed, but this time shut off the alarm completely. I turn on the lights to avoid falling back asleep, and get dressed, literally just throwing something on and then I head out into the hall. After a quick stop at the restroom I head to the kitchen where my mom is waiting and making my youngest sister's and her lunches. I greet her with a hug and an Italian "Good Morning" and set off to make breakfast. I pick out the Cheerios and get a bowl and pour the milk. After such a "filling" breakfast it's 6:20. Time to wake up my sister. Usually I go downstairs and physically shake her  to wake her, but I'm feeling extra lazy today so I just knock on the wall next to her room. No reply but I continue my schedule because technically, it's her responsibility to get up on her own.

I head back to my messy room and grab last night's homework off my desk and stuff it into a binder and into my bag. Then I mentally go through a list of what classes I have today and what I need including after school activities, and I pack accordingly. Today is a Black day, so I go through my schedule. After that I go to the kitchen and drink some Red Zinger tea with honey and pack a sandwich, a granola bar, and an apple for lunch. I then knock on the wall again and out comes my sister, all set to go. Apparently she had been up the entire time but just didn't return my knocks.

I grab a hoodie and we head outside towards the bus stop. The brisk, cold air hits us, and any hint of grogginess is wiped away. We begin our five minute trek to the bus stop talking and chatting as we pass sleeping houses and the dark forest next to us. Leaves and acorns are scattered all over the sidewalk and our feet make crunching sounds. I look at my watch: 6:41. We begin to sprint. Our backpacks sway in time behind us. At 6:43  the bus stop is just in sight and we slow to a walk so no one sees us running. Wouldn't want to embarrass ourselves now would we?

We arrive at the bus stop only to have thirty seconds of idle chit chat before the bus arrives. Still catching our breath we climb aboard and I think of how close that was. I find a seat and sit down. I then realize...that I left my lunch on the kitchen counter.