Somnium - Paul Part 1: Waking Up

Look, I’m not saying it’s particularly interesting or anything, and I wouldn’t like to bore you about it, but whenever I wake up, wherever I am, I always think I’m in my own bed at home. Before the old grey matter kicks in, my eyes gently open and I stare at the ceiling wondering whether the place was redecorated by the tooth fairy.

This morning, I woke up to a familiar ringing noise, and an unfamiliar mattress. I could tell by the foam mattress that it was not my bed. My mattress is pocket sprung. That was the first hint that I wasn’t at home.

A gentle ring.

I peeped one eye open with the lazy suspiciousness of a dog that has heard a food wrapper. It was dark, and my bed was spinning as though I had had rather a jolly time the night before, and a morning of regret was nigh. I queried my body with th’old senses, and none of the other associated side effects of an over-ripe inebriation presented themselves.

Another gentle ring.

That is most certainly my alarm. I had better remember why I set it.

A less gentle ring.

By long established custom, I position my phone precisely where my hand would naturally fall as I reach over the side of my bed. It’s quite convenient for a cool, sightless grab in the dark of a lazy morning. However, in this instance, when I flicked my hand out in the usual play, I walloped it off a wooden wall that by rights should not have been there. Definitely not my bed. Best be cautious.

A fairly aggressive ring.

The sharp pain in my wrist triggered a vague memory, and I fumbled about on a small table above my head, my fingers groping for the glassy screen, eyes still closed. Cables and cameras, rattling pens and leafy books folded and tumbled about my hand.

A half a ring.

I managed to cut it off before it woke everyone, whoever everyone might be, and in the process glimpsed that the time was 4:45. A few thoughts made themselves clear.

I’m on a boat in the middle of the ocean. Outside this room and this boat is a vast nothingness. There are only three other people within 20 kilometres of me. My watch starts in 15 minutes.

So that’s how my day began.