A girl's dreams are always containing snakes. She can't understand what the dream people are saying- they all speak at once.
The cafe is bustling at this time of day- is it day? The edges of her vision are too hazy to tell and the idea to just find a window to look out of does not occur to her. Around her, people walk to and fro, and if she focuses on a face long enough, she recognizes them. Her older sister. Her dad. Her grandmother. Her friend from school. None of them seem to have actually ordered anything from the counter she has yet to discover. A generic murmur fills the place, which she accepts as the sound of everybody talking at once. No voice rises above the others, and, much like the cafe itself, nothing is very distinct. Somebody, her uncle, turns to speak to her just as somebody else, her mother, does so as well. Neither of them notice the other is talking to her, and their voices somehow block each other out. She tries to tell them this, tries to ask them to be quiet for a moment so she can understand what they are telling her, but her voice is stuck in her throat. Her anxiety begins to blossom as neither of them notice, and continue talking as more and more people -her teacher, her younger sister, her cousin, her neighbor, her friend- start doing the same. Everything they say is nothing more than an unintelligible blob thanks to those around them. Instead of mingling as voices should, they blur together like watercolors on slick paper. She begins to panic. They're trying to tell her something important and she can't hear a word they're saying and-
All the while, snakes curl themselves around her feet, across the floor; they hang from the ceiling and slither across booths and tables. She hardly pays any mind to them anymore. They are there because they are there. Instead, her attention is captured by the voices all directed at her because she knows they are trying to tell her something important, something necessary for her to know, but she can't understand them and she can't seem to find her voice so they just all repeat themselves over and over before their combined voices finally reach a crescendo and-
Her eyes fly open and she sucks in a huge breath, exhaling quickly. She raises her hand to her chest and feels her heart pounding beneath her nightshirt. Taking another large breath, she lets it out slowly this time and rubs tiredly at her eyes. She can still hear her heartbeat in her ears, and so she closes her eyes for one long moment more before sitting up and grabbing the laptop lying on the floor next to her bed. The screen flickers to life and she's glad it's Saturday because she won't be falling asleep again for a while.
All the while, snakes curl themselves around her feet, across the floor; they hang from the ceiling and slither across booths and tables. She hardly pays any mind to them anymore. They are there because they are there. Instead, her attention is captured by the voices all directed at her because she knows they are trying to tell her something important, something necessary for her to know, but she can't understand them and she can't seem to find her voice so they just all repeat themselves over and over before their combined voices finally reach a crescendo and-
Her eyes fly open and she sucks in a huge breath, exhaling quickly. She raises her hand to her chest and feels her heart pounding beneath her nightshirt. Taking another large breath, she lets it out slowly this time and rubs tiredly at her eyes. She can still hear her heartbeat in her ears, and so she closes her eyes for one long moment more before sitting up and grabbing the laptop lying on the floor next to her bed. The screen flickers to life and she's glad it's Saturday because she won't be falling asleep again for a while.