Mandy finished her glass of wine and set it on the counter. It had been a shitty day, on top of a shitty week, to top off a really shitty month. She was spending way too much time at work and was stressed out beyond belief. Add to that the fact that she caught her boyfriend cheating on her a few months back, and the consequent break up and complete lack of sex wasn't helping matters either.
She didn't quite chug down the mostly full bottle of wine she had in the fridge, but she had needed to find some kind of way to relax. She hadn't been sleeping at all lately with the extra stress of work causing her natural insomnia to act up again. She was so worn out every night that she was unable to force herself to go to sleep. It sounded strange when she tried to explain it, but that's how it was.
She had managed to get out of work at an almost normal hour today. After eating what amounted to a decent dinner, Mandy had set up a whole plan to get comfortable and unwind for the night. She had slipped into her pajamas quickly, so she was nice and comfortable on her sofa. A bottle of wine and a good book were supposed to help calm her mind down enough to get her to finally get to sleep.
Unfortunately, it didn't seem to be working as much as she had hoped. The wine was having its effect on her well enough. But the cheap romance novel she was trying to read wasn't helping much. She had a hard time focusing on the words in the book as her brain kept going back to work stuff, which she couldn't seem to just let go. She had managed to just keep her attention on task as she started to read over what was supposed to be a hot sex scene in the book.
The wine was definitely having an effect on her because she could feel her body beginning to react to hot scene. The man in the book was having his way with the protagonist, and she was taking all of his impressive manhood. Mandy couldn't remember the last time she had been with a guy who had immediately taken charge in bed like that.
Yeah, it had been a while. But tonight wasn't about her lack of sex life. Tonight was about getting nice and relaxed, and getting more than five hours of sleep since... well since last month. So, eventually Mandy had to put the book down and ease herself back on the sofa to drink the rest of her wine, trying to think of anything other than work and sex.
She had succeeded, more or less as she sank back into the cushions and pillows that she had piled on the comfy sofa. She was finally tired out and ready for bed. After brushing her teeth, and doing her nightly face regimen, she slipped under the covers and into her queen-sized bed.
She had already put on the A/C, even though it was no where near warm enough to warrant it. She had also pulled out her biggest, heaviest blanket and thrown it over the sheet and comforter on the bed. She had heard somewhere that swaddling up in heavy blankets was supposed to be soothing.
It took a few minutes to get herself situated so she was nice and comfortable. She then plugged her earbuds in and flipped through her phone trying to find the file she had downloaded earlier at work. One of her coworkers had suggested a relaxation tape to help her get to sleep. This one was supposed to be specially designed to work for people with insomnia.
At this point, she was willing to do anything. Well, almost anything. She wasn't about to call her ex, even though she knew it was easier for her to get to sleep with a warm body laying next to her. She was not about to let that bastard back into her life. She'd just have to learn how to be single again.
Finding the new file, she pressed play and settled back down into her bed. The cold air from the A/C blowing across her exposed face, and the warmth generated by her multiple layers of covers was already making her sink down into her bed towards a wonderful sleepiness.
The audio came on with the sound of waves lightly rolling along a shore. It sounded nice. She hoped this audio worked as well as her coworker had advertised. She listened as the waves continued to lap against the shore, the light relaxing sound helping her mind shut down from the demanding week of work.
A deep male voice eventually came on, talking slowly. It sounded nice and nonthreatening. She tried not to pay attention to the voice and sounds in the audio, focusing instead on her breathing and trying to fall asleep.
Breathe in...
Breathe out...
Slowly breathe in...
Counting to three...
Then breathe out... She kept slowly breathing, feeling her shoulders slump into the bed as the stress she didn't even know she was holding seeped out of her. Her arms were growing heavy, weighed down by the extra-large blanket she was wrapped up in. She could feel her body sinking deeper into the safety and comfort of her bed.
Who know just breathing in and out so deeply would have such an effect?
Breathing out and relaxing...
Breathing in and slowly counting to three...
And breathing out and letting all the stress out...
Breathing in and counting down...
Breathing out and slowly counting down while relaxing more and more.
The numbers flashed up in her vision behind her closed eyes. She was counting down and relaxing more and more. The soft comfort of her bed was helping her relax and slip down into comfort. Starting out at the numeral 25, the numbers drifting lazily in her vision. The numbers were surrounded completely by stark blackness. A total and complete black emptiness. Mandy knew instinctively that the numbers were in a void. And she longed to join them in their eternal slumber.
Each number slowly disappeared, fading into the nothingness of the black void they belonged to. They were replaced by the next number in the sequence. 25....24....23... the numbers moved down, sinking into the void, pulling her inexorably down with them.
The numbers counting down...