Sleep Well

Jordan Blair was not necessarily a boring person. He had a normal, mediocre life with a mundane, yet decent paying job in the city. He had a handful of friends and a small family, but he mostly kept to himself, as much as possible. The very idea of talking to people gave him crippling anxiety. He disliked having to engage with any part of society and avoided it at all costs and he became overwhelmed with crowds.

Jordan sat in his large dark blue lounge chair and flipped through the TV guide on his television. His cat, Steven, was curled up on his lap, enjoying the scratches. Jordan finally settled on something, a secondary horror movie series, he let out a long sigh and relaxed, ready to enjoy his night. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door startling Steven, who immediately bolted to the safety of the bedroom. Jordan grumbled to himself as he paused his show and waited. He wasn’t expecting a visitor and he had hoped, if he waited long enough, the person at the door would give up and leave. There was another knock but Jordan remained in his chair. He held his breath and wished whoever was at the door would just leave. Then, the door bell rang, followed by more, now impatient knocks. Jordan sighed and made his way to the door. He hesitated, but after another set of knocks, he opened the door and welcomed the stranger with an annoyed glare.

A tall woman with dark skin smiled at him. She had a scarf wrapped around her head and hoop earrings. She had dark eye shadow and bold red lips. Her teeth were unbelievably white.

“Hello!” she said. Jordan noticed the clipboard she was holding and immediately held up her hand.

“I’m not interested, thanks,” he said, thinking she was a saleswoman.

The woman would not give up that easily. “Hello,” she said, “I’m sorry to bother you. Name’s Annibel. I would like to offer you a healing.”

Jordan blinked in confusion. “A healing?” he repeated.

“Yes,” Annibel nodded and flipped through the pages of her clipboard. “I offer a wide variety of healings…I’m skilled at tarot, palm reading, soul cleansing, and-”

“I’m sorry, but I’m okay, thanks,” Jordan interrupted. He nodded at the strange woman and began to shut the door on her. She quickly placed a sandal in the doorway, blocking the door from closing.

“It will only take a minute of your time,” Annibel said with a toothy grin. Jordan shook his head and looked back into his living room where his lounge chair sat empty. “There are immediate benefits to my practice. I have testimonials and a five star rating. There is no risk at all, and your money back if you are not satisfied with the outcomes."

Jordan chuckled at the woman’s determination, but again, he shook his head and said goodbye. Before he could close the door, Annibal reached through the threshold and grabbed his arm tightly. That threw Jordan off and he froze, unsure of how to proceed with the interaction. Annibal’s face darkened, her smile faded from her red lips.

“I could be of great help to you, Jordan.”

“H-how do you know my name?” he stammered.

Annibal smiled again, but this time, her grin forced a chill to run down Jordan’s spine. “I only want to help you. To unleash your true desires and find happiness within yourself.” Jordan yanked his arm away and the woman stepped back, unfazed of her break in character.

“I am going to close the door now,” Jordan said with a shaky voice, “Thank you.” Annibal allowed the door to close and Jordan took a few breaths trying to compose himself before returning to his evening. The event shook him and he decided to take a bath to calm his nerves.

The hot water soothed his body as Jordan cleared his mind of all thoughts. Time slipped him and before long, Steven casually walked into the bathroom, sat on the rug and meowed loudly. Jordan jumped and stared at his cat. He licked his whiskers and meowed again. Steven’s bowl was empty and it was dinner time but Jordan was not ready to leave the sanctity of his bath. He sighed and tried to ignore Steven, but he persisted with the meows.

“Can you wait?” Jordan asked him with a strain in his voice, “I’ll feed you later.”

Steven’s eyes narrowed and he released a painfully long meow. Jordan groaned and splashed water in the cat’s direction, which made him jump out of the way, but somehow also made his calls more dire. The noise pierced into Jordan’s eardrums and shook his brain. He shot up quickly and turned to Steven.

“Will you shut up?” he barked. Jordan opened his eyes and saw that Steven slumped over and gently placed his paws under his head. Jordan paused before getting out of the tub and called to Steven. When he didn’t get a response, Jordan pulled himself out of the tub to check on his cat. Jordan let out a sigh of relief when he realized Steven was asleep. For the next hour, Jordan didn’t let Steven out of his sight. Jordan watched as Steven stirred softly in his sleep, purring with pleasure. After some time, Steven blinked his eyes open, yawned and stretched. Jordan stayed up all night and researched the strange phenomenon. When his alarm clock went off at five in the morning, he couldn’t find any clarity and made himself a mental note to call the vet later that day.

Jordan sat in a row of empty chairs in the back of the train as it made its way downtown. A young man took a seat near him and Jordan immediately groaned. The young man was on the phone, talking loudly and popping gum.

“Do you mind?” Jordan asked. The man paused, looked at Jordan for a moment and laughed, returning to his conversation. Jordan was enraged. He glared at the man and his frustration grew. Jordan watched as the man yawned in mid sentence. He was suddenly drowsy and couldn’t finish what he was trying to say. The man fell asleep, dropping his phone onto the ground. Jordan sucked in a quick breath and his eyes got wide in surprise. He didn’t understand what just happened, but it was exactly the same thing that happened to Steven the previous night. He continued to sit there, not moving his eyes off the man until it was his stop. Jordan rose to his feet, picked up the phone and placed it next to the man who was now snoring.

Jordan realized he could make anyone sleep. When the intern brought him cold coffee, Jordan found her fast asleep in the breakroom. When his boss demanded a rush on the paperwork, he was drooling on his desk. When the cashier overcharged him for his sandwich on his lunch break, the employee was fast asleep, leaning against the wall. With his new found power, Jordan felt unstoppable. He walked with a lighter step and had a smile on his face. And every instance, his victims would wake up, confused and forgetting why they had fallen asleep in the first place.

Jordan returned home without any problems. If anyone bothered him, they began to yawn without warning and their eyes would flutter until they fell asleep. Life with this new power seemed perfect, that is, until that Thursday night at his brother’s house.

Jason was the complete opposite of Jordan. Despite being twins, Jason was a skilled outdoorsman, adventurous and loved to close down the bar on Friday nights. Jason was in his football jersey with face paint shouting loudly at the television. Both brothers played football in high school to appease their father, but Jason really enjoyed the sport. Jordan sat next to Jason on the couch with his arms crossed, waiting for the game to end. At halftime, Jason was completely feral. He jumped up in celebration, knocking over the coffee table full of snacks. He stomped his feet and let out a shrill of excitement. Jordan grumbled and angrily stared at his brother, wishing he would stop. He was beyond annoyed and when Jason stopped to let out a long yawn, Jordan smiled. Before long, Jason was fast asleep on the couch, snoring as his game continued on without him.

The game ended with Jason’s team victorious. Instead of a loud and over-the-top celebration, Jason remanded asleep and Jordan thrived in the silence. Since the game was over, Jordan stood and collected his belongings. He walked up to his sleeping brother.

“Well, I should be going.” When Jason didn’t stir, Jordan placed a hand on Jason’s shoulder and shook him. Jordan hesitated and shook him again.

“Jason?” Jordan raised his voice and called his brother’s name again. Jason did not reply. “Come on, Jay. I’m leaving, wake up.”

Jason had always been a light sleeper. Any time Jordan got up from the bottom bunk at night, Jason would jump up from a dead sleep, alert and ready for action. It was strange that Jason wasn’t waking up so Jordan tried again. He shouted in Jason’s ear. He threw water on him and pulled him off the couch. Nothing was working. Jordan started to panic. Everyone he’s made fall asleep always wakes up.

Just then, the front door opened and Jason’s wife, Amanda, walked inside. She kicked off her work shoes, dropped her bag by the front closet and announced her arrival. Jason ran to the front door and Amanda jumped from the look of terror on Jordan’s face.

“Hey,” she said with uncertainty, “What’s going on?”

“Jason won’t wake up.” Jordan turned to the living room and Amanda followed him with questions that Jordan wasn’t answering.

“What do you mean, he won’t wake up?”

“He fell asleep and I can’t wake him up?”

Amanda looked confused. She knew Jason to be a light sleeper as well, and it was also odd for Jason to fall asleep during his football games. As Amanda rounded the couch, she saw her husband lying on the ground with his hands curled underneath his head and a small smile on his face. He seemed at peace, like he was having a wonderful dream.

Jordan was hopeful that Amanda would know what to do. She was a nurse at the hospital, specifically at the triage center of the emergency room. After many desperate tries of waking Jason up, they both collapsed on the floor next to Jason. It was a terrible silence that haunted Jordan. He didn’t want this. A few moments of quiet and peace, but he wasn’t aware there would be any risk involved.

The next few hours went by quickly. Before Jordan could truly grasp what was happening, he followed his brother as the paramedics ran the stretcher to the ambulance. He crawled into the back and Amanda jumped into her car and trailed after them. The back of the ambulance was absolute chaos. The paramedic ran through her set of vitals, asking question after question that Jordan couldn’t answer. By the time they arrived at the hospital, Jason was hooked up to an IV and had a handful of wires taped to his now bare chest. Jordan felt horrible that she had cut through Jason’s favorite football jersey, but he made a mental note to replace it the first chance he had. He followed the paramedics through the double glass doors with the word ‘Emergency’ in bold red letters. Jason was wheeled into a room and Jordan was directed to the waiting room, where a nurse met him and asked him even more questions. The entire thing was overwhelming, but he tried to answer them to the best of his ability. At this point, he confessed that it was his fault and he had made Jason sleep. He spoke fast, the words spilling over themselves faster than the nurse could write. Eventually, she stopped writing and just stared at Jordan with concerned eyes. When Jordan was finished, she simply nodded and gestured him to sit in the waiting room. Amanda appeared behind him, and she asked the nurse what was going on.

The nurse shrugged, “I’m not sure, the doctors will take it from here. I will get back to you as soon as I can with an update.” She hesitated before leaving and then spoke again, “You said he’s sleeping?”

“Yes,” Jordan said with a nod.

“And he hasn’t taken any drugs or alcohol?”

“Well,” Jordan sighed, “No drugs, but he did have a few beers during the game. Not enough to do this though.”

Jordan sighed as he flopped in the chair next to Amanda. There was an awkward silence for a long time. Jordan watched the clock tick away until Amanda turned to Jordan.

“So what really happened, Jordan?”

Jordan shook his head and swallowed before he opened his mouth. He spoke soft enough for Amanda to lean in to hear him better. “It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. They always wake up. Always. I don’t understand why…why he isn’t…” Jordan trailed off and wiped the tears from his eyes.

After a few hours of waiting, a nurse approached the pair with a grim face. She tried to smile, but the stress of her shift wore heavy on her face. “Excuse me,” she said with a genuine softness in her voice, “Are you here for Jason Clarke?”

Jordan shot up from his chair and nodded. The nurse continued, “The doctors are not sure what is exactly going on with him, but he is stable and if you would like, you may see him now.” Amanda rose at the opportunity and with a quick exchange in glances, the pair followed the nurse to a room that was around the corner and down the hall.

Jordan sat as close as he could to Jason’s bed. He’s been visiting his sleeping brother every other day for weeks now. Jordan held his brother’s hand and went over his entire day from the moment he woke up until the second he walked through the door to Jason’s room. He didn’t stop to take a breath as he recited the events of his day. He was extremely animated, throwing his hands in the air as he spoke, laughing at his own jokes and when he was finished, he would move on to telling his brother old memories of their childhood. He spent hours in this room and talked non-stop. Usually, this amount of conversation would bother him and he would eagerly find any excuse to escape the situation. Jordan sighed and glanced up at the clock. It was getting late and he hadn’t eaten yet today.

Jordan waited for a moment in silence, waiting for any reaction from Jason, but he didn’t move. He sighed and rose from his chair. He took his time walking to the door, opened it and before he left he wiped a loose tear from his cheek and took one last look at his brother before leaving.

“Sleep well,” he said and then he closed the door.