frozen.

with her backpack unzipped and the contents spilling out, a precalc book yearning to be closed because of the hours it had spent open, a binder, and a few loose papers strewn around her, plus a laptop on her stomach, she lay in bed completely oblivious to all of these things. the heat of the laptop was the only thing she was aware of because it was keeping her nice and warm. she didn't know what time it was, but that didn't really matter to her. she wasn't that tired, but then again she was. her body was tired, but her brain wasn't. she could hear her sister breathing in the bed next to her's. it was a little soothing, knowing she wasn't alone in the room. she was lying on her back with her hands resting behind her head, staring at the ceiling. the walls of her room were green, but her ceiling was a blank white. she stared at it for a while, then slowly began thinking about, well, life. it started off with how her day had been, then yesterday, then the day before, the whole week, then the school year. she remembered all the good things, then all the not-so-good. the ceiling wasn't blank anymore. as she stared at it, she could see all of these things happening again.

after thinking and watching for a while, she closed her eyes. her brain was still awake, so everything kept playing. she doesn't know how long she stayed like that, but it felt like a really long time.

then...she opened her eyes. everything was where it had been some forty-five, sixty, ninety minutes ago. the backpack, the binder, the math book, the laptop -- everything. the ceiling was blank again and she was in the exact same position. it was as if time had stood still. it felt as though she had just gone through a whole new day. she had been with the people she loved, she did things that made her happy, and she regretted none of it. she put everything away and went to bed, still hearing the sound of her sister's breathing. and she found comfort in knowing she'd still be there in the morning.