Insomnia's Give And Take

A couple texts. Names are very slightly changed, as are conversations. The contact name of Wheezely is a very long, very nerdy story and just know that I've known them for forever (ayy DEH reference)

Stuck in the backseat of a stranger's car that's going way too fast

Lavender sachet embroidered with roses and the Notre Dame

Pressed into my face, the heavy scent and hint of menthol overwhelming

In a perfectly necessary way

I fish my phone out of my backpack and type with my free hand

11:42 to Wheezely: Hey are you awake

11:43 to Gia: Hey are you awake

Not even 2 seconds later

Wheezely, 11:43: yeah what's up

Gia, 11:43: Yep

I try not to audibly sigh with relief as I dive into two totally different conversations

About the unnecessary fame of the Empire State Building and our same old inside jokes

About Netflix shows I have to watch even though I don't have Netflix, and insomnia

About old times almost-loitering in the mall and our collective bucket list

About The Sound of Music and Anastasia and Les Miserables and The Hunchback Of Notre Dame

And it's so random and so hard to follow and I love it

I let them both lead the separate conversations since they want to

But I thank them both

Because thanks to them,

In a stranger's car, in the middle of the night, in a city I don't know,

I feel safe.

Author's Note

Note that by "a stranger's car" I mean an Uber, but my sleep deprivation + being biologically female doesn't necessarily equate to feeling super safe in the car of someone I don't know, professional or otherwise, because things COULD and have gone wrong before, annnnnd I'm rambling