1. I Can't Go To Sleep (2025)

The clock on the nightstand was a liar. It claimed it was 3:14 AM, but Elias knew better. To him, time had ceased to be a linear progression of minutes and had instead become a thick, suffocating fog.

He stared at the ceiling. The shadows cast by the streetlamp outside looked like reaching fingers. Usually, he’d find it creepy, but tonight he just felt a kinship with them. They looked tired, too. "Just sleep," he whispered to the empty room. 1. I Can't Go To Sleep

Elias rolled onto his stomach. Then his left side. Then his right. He flipped the pillow to the "cool side," which stayed cool for approximately six seconds before absorbing his frantic radiating heat. The clock on the nightstand was a liar

If he checked the time again, it would be 4:00 AM. And if it was 4:00 AM, he had already lost. He stared at the ceiling

His phone sat on the charger, a glowing siren. He knew that if he picked it up, the blue light would finish off whatever remained of his melatonin, but the temptation was a physical ache. He reached out, his fingers hovering inches from the screen.

He tried the breathing exercises. In for four, hold for seven, out for eight. By the third round, he wasn't relaxed; he was just hyper-aware of how loud his own lungs were. The house, usually silent, had developed a symphony of taunts. The refrigerator hummed a low, mocking drone. A floorboard in the hallway creaked, suggesting a ghost that was also, presumably, suffering from insomnia.

He sighed, his eyes burning and heavy, and realized the cruelest joke of all: now that the sun was up, he was finally starting to feel a little bit drowsy.