Process of Falling Asleep

Article contributed by Sophie Liu

A few months ago there was a night when I couldn't fall asleep. Even though this never happened again, I think this is a great example of my journey to successfully falling asleep. This happened a few months ago, when I had less homework to do. So, one day, I (finally) managed to be on bed earlier, at around 10:00 p.m. And I decided to fall asleep before 10:30, in thirty minutes. That, is earlier than my usual sleeping time.

At ten o’ clock, I am in bed with lights off. I squeezed my eyes shut hoping this will help my fall asleep. But my mind started wondering around, I flew out of my house, into the deep night sky… squeak! My bedroom door opened, it was a really loud sound to me at that time. My eyes flashed open, and I stared at the open door into the darkness behind them. “Mom?” I whispered. No answer. “Mom?” I said, this time louder. Still no answer. Okay then. That made me wake up completely. Did I just fall asleep, or almost fall asleep? Well, now I am absolutely awake. I check my kitty clock, it shines 10:15. Oh no! I have 15 minutes left. Again, I squeezed my eyes shut hoping my mind will go blank again this time. But it didn’t. I forced it to float out of the house and into the night sky, but it kept flashing back on stuff like potatoes, or math tests. I tried to force them out of my mind, but they kept coming back like endless flies. Then I thought of a bug killer… If, only if I have a bug killer for mind… I felt my eyes open involuntary and focused on my clock. 10:25 Great! Five more minutes. I lay there, staring at the ceiling. I. Want. To. Sleep!!!!! Closed my eyes, swear that I am not going to open them unless it’s tomorrow.  

I started counting sheep, my least favorite idea. That for some reason actually worked! The next thing I knew was sunlight shining on my face. Well I’d count that as a success. But did I fall asleep? If so, when? I hope I can fall asleep easier.