Relatively Minor
Laughter does not have to come from a major source. It could indeed be ... relatively minor.
According to the know-it-alls on Google, sleeping in a dark room helps to improve an individual’s mental focus, enabling quality uninterrupted sleep for at least 6 hours. Well, until the ringtone on your cell phone breaks the silence in the dead of night, as some scammer thinks that 3 a.m. is the most appropriate time to call.
Throwing covers back, rolling out of bed, grabbing my glasses and stumbling over two rubber balls on the way down the hall certainly didn’t improve my focus as I hurried to answer.
My heart beat heavily during a few anxious moments as I picked my phone off of the dining room table. Nobody calls in the middle of the night with good news. Somebody is usually dying or on their way to the promised land.
The backlighting on my device revealed the identity of the caller to be someone not on my contact list. They appeared to be in the process of leaving a voice mail. So I waited, as the application continued to process the message. The spinning wheel of death continued its rotation for an abundance of time. I gave up and went back to bed.
This unexpected awakening after a significant slumber led to endless rolling from left to right, the bed covers knotting. I tried, unsuccessfully, to return to my previously-uninterrupted snooze. After ten minutes or more of consistent tosses and turns – eyes wide open – I had suffered enough. It was time to count sheep!
In this age of technology, it would be just as easy to grab an iPod with some classical songs, and some ear pods for a few nods. However, by pulling the wool over my eyes, it may just take two shakes of a lamb’s tail to lull me to sleep.
After a few deep breaths to relax, I steered my mental focus to a lush green grassy field filled with a flock of identical lambs, surrounded by a traditional white picket fence. The flock of sheep patiently grazed on the luxurious turf – until an Australian Shepherd appeared out of nowhere to herd them one at a time over the fence for my benefit.
One-two-three-four, then the dog methodically sent a few more. Five-six-seven-eight, I was so relaxed. Wow, this is great! Ten-eleven-twelve, I was almost asleep – until it was time for the thirteenth sheep. Well on his way, he jumped so high ... until his hoof nicked the top of the fence going by. That was all it would take: sheep lay in the grass, I was instantly awake.
So much for the sleep that I hadn’t got – all because of a phone call and a “sheep shot”.
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