Quiet settles over the kitchen like a soft blanket, as the hands of the clock continue their journey around to the AM hours. The gentle hum of the laptop is the only sound, punctuated by rapid spurts of key-tapping when the words begin to flow again. In the dead of night, with fewer distractions to get in the way, I tend to accomplish much more work and brainstorming is possible than in the daytime which most other people spend their waking hours. Allowing my mind to wander, following random lines of thought and then coming back to a focus once more, this is the only way that I can truly write with ease. While the rest of the house is fast asleep, that light in the kitchen keeps me company.

By the time I begin to wrap things up, I wonder how many bakers are beginning to wake for their pre-dawn shifts. 3 AM, 4 AM; the times that average people would be loathe to think about opening their eyes at. An insomniac with an excuse, I no longer try to fight it or count sheep to lull myself into a tired state… And while I may have given up on those fleecy animals, that doesn’t mean they’ve given up on me.

Try as they might, coffee at the ready so that they might be able to outlast my restlessness, I can always see them fading as the hours creep onward. Eyes closing, flickering open, and struggling to stay that way, it’s clear that this poor little guy got stuck with a tough job indeed. When my stream of thought finally runs dry and it’s time to head off to bed, it’s then that I notice that this diligent worker has actually beaten me to it.

It really is getting late when even the sheep give up.