Sleep would just not come.
She lay in her bed staring at the ceiling. Occasionally, lights from a passing car on her small suburban street would illuminate the interior of her room, the ghostly light passing from just above the window to the space above her head, only to disappear as the car passed the house below.
If she had a mechanical clock, such as the numerous clocks in the house where she grew up, she imagined she could listen to it tick away the seconds as she tried to sleep. The nightstand clock she had was digital and, from the corner of her eye, she could see it flip from minute to minute. She sighed when she realized that she had eagerly been awaiting the next minute to appear on the clock.
With a scowl she pushed the covers away and got up from her bed. She sighed again and stepped slowly to the window.
"This is so damn frustrating!" she thought to herself as she gently pulled the lace curtains back to be able to see the street below.
The air was a little cooler tonight and she tingled as the night air passed over her body from the open window. There was a gentle breeze and the trees outside swayed slowly with a gentle rhythm.
All day she had felt so exhausted, so depleted of energy, she had called in sick and stayed home with what she thought was a touch of the flu. She found two small marks on her neck and realized she must have scratched herself in her sleep at some point.
Although she had no sniffles or other obvious symptoms of the flu, she guessed she had contracted some sort of virus. Whatever it was, she had no energy, had not stepped outside all day and couldn't even bring herself to eat, even though she knew she must be starving.
She had made soup but only managed to swallow two mouthfuls. The reaction had been swift and violent. She barely made it to the kitchen sink before vomiting the contents of her stomach. The dry heaves that followed were equally violent and intensely painful.
After cleaning up the mess in the sink, she dumped the remainder of the soup into the toilet and flushed. After that she felt weak as a kitten.
She curled up on the couch and tried to watch television. She held the remote in her hand and flipped mindlessly through all the channels at least twice. Then she turned the TV off and tossed the remote onto the cushion beside her.
When she felt sick, she often retreated to the balcony where she could soak up some sun and breathe fresh air. Today when she tried that, her eyes squinted shut from the brightness. Pain shot through her eyes and seemed to sear her brain. She flailed madly at the curtains before finally drawing them closed.