It's 4am on a Wednesday

I'm reading something new at Beast Crawl 2023 today, which got me thinking about past Beast Crawls. This piece is from 2021.

It’s 4am on a Wednesday.

“Alexa, give me 15 minutes.”

I set the timer and snuggle deeper under the covers, smug about the way I just stole back a whole quarter of an hour for myself.

I will be at my daughter’s place by 5 a.m., wide awake and chasing my grandchild, but right now, no one’s touching me. Pulling on me. Swinging me around a day of never knowing exactly what’s next: affection, a tantrum, spilled milk, spontaneous wailing, long afternoon cuddles. It can turn on a dime.

Right now, though. I get 15 minutes of quiet. Solitude. The silence has mass, thick and heavy and warm. Without even the sun to tug on my eyelids, I purr to the rhythm of my cat’s breathing.