How to Fight Sleep

Written by Camille Jones :: [Saturday, 13 April 2013 17:19] Last updated by :: [Tuesday, 08 July 2014 12:18]

How to Fight Sleep

by Camille Jones

Lydia is fighting hard to keep her blue eyes open. The combination of going to school full-time and working night shifts at the local convenience store is taking its toll on her. Her manager walks by, just in time to catch her shutting down by her register.

“Lydia!” he barks.

She snaps back into focus, startled by the sudden deep male voice. The platinum-blond girl rubs her eyes, itchy from her awkward sleep schedule.

“S-sorry Chris, I’ve got mid-terms and I’ve been up pretty much since Sunday.” her voice dragging in a slumber-like drawl.

“I understand, but you need to stay awake. If you want, go splash some cold water in your face and I’ll get you an energy drink.”

“Ouh, I dunno about those. I don’t really mess around with energy drinks.”

“Look, right now you need it. Plus you won’t crash until later, maybe 1 hour after your shift.”

Under normal circumstances, she would’ve said no considering she swore off any sugary and carbonated drinks for fear of her dietary health. However, her hazy and slightly numb mind is craving for a stimulant to keep her alert and awake long enough until she can lie in her bed and take a long, well-deserved nap.

“Alright, I’ll be right back then.”

After a rather lackluster zombie drag down the aisle, she finds herself in the employee’s bathroom. She turns on the cold water, scoops some in her hands before splashing cold water over her pale face. The ice-cold water helps keep her away as she rubs it around her eyes, finding relief for the itchiness.

Lydia stares into the mirror, seeing the dark circles underneath her eyes. Her blond locks seem dull and unkempt. Her blue eyes are jaded without any light of their own.

“I look like shit,” she drones to herself, “can’t wait for this semester to be over.”

Lydia comes back up to the front counter, finding a strange pink can with the word aXXelerate on it.

“What is that?” she asks him, holding the can. She’s not sure if it’s her hazy mind playing tricks on her, but she can feel the energy through the can.

“Shipment brought this in yesterday. Not supposed to have it out until this Friday but I drank some yesterday. I had energy to spare but I crashed hard when I got home. Imagine what it can do for you.”

Something about this strawberry-flavored energy drink just doesn’t seem right to her. It’s as if it’s speaking her to, telling her to try it; as if is telling her that something wonderful is going to happen if she does.

“What have I got to lose?”

She cracks opens the lid and takes a sip of the cold, refreshing liquid. Her eyes widen, the taste of aXXelerate is beyond anything she has ever tasted. The carbonation tickled and burned down her throat but the taste was too good for her to drink it gingerly as she chugs the contents down.  Once she gets down to the last drop, she crushes the can in her grip before letting out a rather loud belch. Thankfully, only Chris was in the store to hear her uncharacteristic belch.

“S-sorry, that was just too good.” Lydia blushes softly. “Damn, I feel good though! Thanks a lot Chris.”

“No problem. Now let’s get back to work.” He turns around to get back to work but stops when he hears Lydia grunt a bit.      

“Shit, shouldn’t have drunk that all at once.” she says, clutching her stomach in discomfort.

“You should’ve slowed down on that.”  He sighs at first before looking at her, perplexed as he could have sworn that her breasts are growing.

“Feels like my veins are on fire … oh fuck!”

Lydia feels as if hot lava is spreading throughout her body. She looks down her body, seeing her forearms tense up and gain definition along with the rest of her body. She can feel her thighs and calves grow tighter against her khaki pants. She can feel the air around her midsection and ankles as she was growing taller. Her hair was becoming fuller, longer, shinier and more vibrant as her skin gained an even tone of porcelain without the slightest blemish.

What she didn’t feel was her feet leaving the carpet floor as Lydia was suspended in the air. However, this fact was not lost on Chris.

“Holy shit.” he mutters as he stares at his floating blond cashier.

Her clothes are in shreds, barely hanging off her now athletically-fit and tall body. It was only after hearing Chris mutter that she looks down with her glowing blue orbs.

“Whoa,” she barely gasps as she looks down at the ground as she hovers a foot above it. She even kicked her feet back and forth to make sure she was not having another sleep-deprived hallucination. “I can fly? Fuck yeah!”

She laughs in jubilation, flying up to the 35-foot ceiling of the store. She then flies, above the aisles and even executing a hairpin turn before landing right in front of an astonished Chris.

“L-Lydia, how are you feeling?” her supervisor asks her, still not fully processing the fact that his cashier just told gravity to get bent.

“I feel great, better than great! I feel so strong, so powerful, like there is nothing I can’t do!” she replies with glee before she flexes her bicep, smiling at how large and defined the muscle curled into. “Well, I guess I can cancel my gym membership now.”

“Speaking of, now that you are a Supergirl, what are you going to do now?”

“For starters, finish my entire coursework so I can get some damn sleep!”