Slowly crawling up the ladder, he pushes himself to get over every single little bar. With each foot barely gripping against the wooden frame of the five bar furniture, his tiring movements seem to say that this one might be his last. But after some long laborious actions, he finally succeeds in reaching the highest rung of the ladder. His reward for such hard work: the comforts of his nice warm snug bed.

But that was just the beginning. Now that he has ascended the mountain that was the gigantic ladder, now that he has arrived at the pinnacle of this peak, another task awaits him. Plopping down with a big “ommph,” he starts tucking himself in, pulling the blankets and covers up to his chin, curling into the warm sheets; the speed at which he accomplishes all this rivals that of a sloth.

One would hope that this was the end of his tiring journey. And for most people, it is. After they have passed the little plateau that usually causes others to stumble, if they have the mental and physical aptitude to reach this point, the reward is completely theirs to enjoy, with absolutely no strings attached. But for the other groups of people, those not so fortunate to be able to so easily reach that desired goal, they have a second half adventure, another difficult sojourn filled with obstacles and tribulations through which they have to be able to conquer before they can taste the sweet delicious nectar of victory.

The issue is, one never really knows which category one falls into. From the onset, everyone naively likes to think that they are in the first group, the divinely blesssed ones who are able to just “get it” the first time around. But half an hour later, when you realize that you have yet to be able to reap your supposedly deserved reward, the epiphany hits you; you’re in the class of those who have to continue the good fight because you won’t be awarded a free dinner tonight. So you continue to toss and turn and roll all around, trying all positions of the bed, blanket, and pillow as well as every single combination of the three known to man in order to finally hit that sweet spot. You do everything in your power to try and fight off the attacks of the enemy, to allow you to peacefully drift off to the land of the sleeping. Ah, if only it were so easy.

You turn away from your somewhat curled position and lie flat on your back, your closed eyelids facing the ceiling of the room, hoping that the blackness that comes from the night and your blocked vision will soon too encompass and consume you. Your hands go under the pillow, grasping it closer to your head so as to bring in more of the softness and comfort closer to you. You contort your body in the strangest ways, thinking some obscure method not known to man will help you reach that blissful moment. Nothing works.

Your eyes start to tear, as each passing second, minute, hour pass you by. You start to wonder if this was all just a tease, that you were never meant to taste the forbidden fruit that everyone else seems to be able to partake of. You cry to yourself, bewilderedly asking yourself why you were singled out, why you were left to this cruel fate.

But as you slowly become so absorbed in your thoughts, as the swirling madness starts to suck you in, that void and vortex of your mind reaches out to your with its long branch-like arms and pulls you in. You’re in. You’ve finally made it at last.

06.05.09, 1.39-2.06am