DAVANNI AND THE SLEEPERS

     To stay awake, Davanni had drunk seven Blue Bear energy drinks over the span of two hours. He’d popped Hype-R tablets and gotten into the habit of controlling the succession of blinks that he allowed himself.
     He’d seen what had happened to all those that had fallen asleep and he was scared shitless that it might happen to him.
     It had been almost five days and he was sure he would be able to beat this thing.
     He was starting to hallucinate by day three. Concentric circles of color appeared before his eyes, twisting into each other and blending like some kind of demented Spin-Art. By the daylight hours, the sun seemed to bounce in the sky, while at night, the moon appeared to be growing rows of sharp teeth.
     He walked the streets, trying to find somebody who was still awake. Nothing but reclining bodies as far as he could see down Chaing Street. The snores were absolutely deafening. They all seemed so peaceful, but he knew what would happen when they awoke. So, he kept another six-pack of Blue Bear in his satchel for future use.
     As he scavenged through Brunhills Shopping Center, grabbing whatever new sneakers or CDs that caught his eye, hands, fingers and legs of the sleepers began to move around him. The high-pitched shreiks were starting again, not just in the mall, but outside as well. Chaing Street echoed with them.
     He finished lacing up his new OffTrails, tossed several B-Rad Boyz and Sippy Cup CDs in his bag and ran as fast as he could as the shrieks got closer.




-SLL