top of page

The sleeptalker

the sleeptalker

The twin brothers went to bed each night at 21:00, just as their mom requested. They were inseparable in sleep and all other things.

​

While they would go to bed together at 21:00, actually sleeping wasn't something they could synchronise.

That was because Lucas, the one who was older by 5 minutes, talked in his sleep. Talked may be an understatement of what was happening.

He was a shy kid at day but a shameless talker at night. 

​

That kept Joseph, the other twin, up many nights restless.

He tried falling asleep first, he tried wearing earplugs, he even tried to wake him up from time to time but nothing seemed to do the trick. 

​

He had come to terms with the fact that as long as they were sharing a bedroom, they would sleep separately.

 

One desperate, sleepless night he decided to wake his brother up in order to buy himself the couple of the remaining hours of sleep but as he got close for the first time in many nights he heard something.

​

Not just mumbling of words but complete sentences. And for the first time, he got past his sleepless, grumpy attitude and listened. 

Lucas' dreams were in fact interesting stories. â€‹

​

From that moment on, Lucas and Joseph went to bed at night together but kept on sleeping at different times. 

The one talked and the other listened. Listened to exciting stories that sounded like successful novels... and were written down like ones. 

 

When they grew up they no longer shared a bedroom. Every time though Lucas went to visit his twin brother, who had a mansion now, being a successful writer, they shared a bedroom.

 

Even when there were so many other. They shared a bedroom for old times sake.

the sweet taste of a last song

the sweet taste of a last song

What weird creatures the oysters are. 

They keep their shield closed to be protected from the outside world. They listen but don't want to be heard. 

​

Such weird creatures the oyster are, they open when they are about to die. 

 

Maybe they regretted their life decisions. Maybe they realised it wasn't even their choice. It was something they though they should be because someone, sometime wasn't brave enough and convinced the rest they weren't either.

 

Maybe they did the right thing hiding and just wanted to see the world for the last time. 

 

Or maybe, just maybe, some of them have so many feelings at that moment of dying that they just sang. Probably a sad song, but definitely a song from the heart. Perhaps a song about life, but definitely one that is honest.  

​

Whatever they do it for, it must be really hard keeping shut your whole life until your dying moment.

​

                                                            ----------

​

They looked at the pot for more than they anticipated. ''How much longer? It's harder than we though. Shouldn't they have opened by now?''

​

They had never cooked oysters before. 

 Home

sick

Home sick

At a boat there was a terrible storm. ΅Why am I here, why did I ever go on this trip?΅ said a passenger, whose name we don’t know.

​

She got on the boat to escape a place she was drawing. At a 300 resident island, it doesn’t sound strange for someone to say he got bored of the same all things and took a chance to explore the great.

​

The only thing was, that she didn’t just take a chance but also a boat, which didn’t have hope on it but gallons of water hitting the window shields every time they crushed into the furious waves.

​

Storms in decisions like that usually come later, while at hers, came a few hours after she boarded. If she knew how dehydrated she would be, from all the vomiting, she would have saved some of the goodbye tears.

​

With each fall came another prayer to god asking him to turn back time and stop her from getting on that boat. Back then, at the island, she was afraid of wasting her life into a dull, sad everyday life tortured by a society that very much knew how to tell you what you Î…mustÎ… be, but had no clue how to listen at want you want to be.   

​

Now, she was afraid of her life in the physical way. What is the worst of the two? When the adrenaline kicks in, there is no such dilemma.

​

The storm stopped when the boat reached its destination. When she, we never did learn her name, got off it, she knew that she would never get back there again because whatever storm she was to come across she had already and now, it was time to enjoy the calm.

Beans.

the beans

The beans. 

​

She went to eat a bowl of beans. It's not like she planed to end her day with an overcooked bowl of beans. She could have ordered pizza or something from the Asian kitchen she so much adored but she decided to go for the beans. 

​

Her mother didn't give her much over the years but now she offered a home cooked free meal. See, it wasn't that she didn't love her daughter it's just that she was not really good at expressing her feelings, just as she wasn't that good at cooking. 

​

Her spoon looked around the plate for any remaining beans. There were only a few left, making the time of the remaining visit limited. The conversation was just like the beans. It started plenty when they talked about all the superficial everyday things such as work, but now was getting more and more difficult to find a subject as they were reaching the bottom of the bowl. 

​

She really didn't care for beans that night but she hoped she would find more than that. 

After the plate got all empty, she washed her dish and kissed her mother goodnight. Her mother gave her a bowl of beans for the next day as well but after she left, she through them away. She didn't really want tasteless, overcooked meals in her life anymore. 

the apple far from the tree

The apple far from the tree

Once upon a time there was an apple tree in a small village.

 

Everyone knew her from since she was barely a branch. One day the apple tree realized that she was getting ready to have babies. The idea that she would have those small, round, red baby apples made her real happy. Her, along with the whole village.

​

They watched them grow, get redder and rounder and the apple tree couldn't be prouder.

​

When they were finally fully grown apples, as red as they could be and as juicy as they could be, hanging beautifully from their mother tree, they were a sight for the eyes. The village seeing that, organized a celebration under the apple tree. Checked tablecloths, bags full of all kinds of food and a lot of music made for the most wonderful outdoor celebration.  

​

The apple tree, watched full of joy. How is it possible, she wondered, for me to have given life to such beautiful apples? How is it possible for me to be celebrated this way? I'm not only a mother but the guest of honor of the villages festivity. She looked at her children and then all these people who, not only had given her everything she needed to help bring them to life but they were giving her a recognition she never thought she'd get. 

​

Her happy thoughts and tearful gratitude were interrupted by a pinching pain. A pain that felt like no other and that started as one but then it became a repeated one. It wasn't so much the level of pain as it was the surprise at first. Then, she realized where it was coming from and it suddenly became truly unbearable. 

​

See, the people had finished their feast and while for the apple tree the celebration had now ended, for them it was the time to enjoy a refreshing fruit. 

© 2024 by Krioni Ioanna

​

bottom of page