This sleepy feeling must be how Earth feels when the summer has passed, when she needs all those months to regenerate and come back in the spring.
The music that plays Seline to dreamland is a song she's heard and thousand times before and never enough. The chords are like a well worn path, one her brain follows so willingly. The velvet voice brings the lyrics, words as familiar as the voice of a trusted lover. In moments she is asleep, body relaxed, breathing steadily.
Night rolls around and after a time the sandman comes to heavy my lids. I feel the shuttering of my synapses, the quite lure into sleepiness. As each limb becomes heavy and my heart slows to a more peaceful beat, the comfort of bed calls.
Maxine is first to yawn, around the room mouths gape one after the other. Everyone has that slightly pink-eyed look and shoulders slouched. That's when Jacob calls time, if we don't leave soon it'll turn into the worst sleepover ever.
Before Toby's head reaches his pillow his eyes softly close and his body becomes floppy. Gran stifles a laugh, "Can't say that babe don't love his bed."
Paulo is sleepy; his head lolls and the muscles of his face relax, releasing the tension of his day. Though the television blares his eyes are almost closed and from his chest comes the first guttural snore.
Luke takes his eyes off the movie, resting his head into Charlie, as if the effort of watching is too much. He cuddles in, feeling the rise and fall of his lover's chest, the rhythmic noise slowing his own breathing. With Charlie's hand on his hair the soporific effect is irresistible, bringing sleep before the next advertisement break.
As her father rounded the corner Saskia wondered why-ever he had gotten out of bed. His facial expression was cadaver-like, not just sagged but lacking it's usual liveliness completely, as if he had left his spirit snuggling under the duvet. His eyelids drooped and there was a slight lolling to his head, drunk with fatigue after a session of night-time trading no doubt. But why not just lie in? Even his feet barely skimmed the tile and altogether his limbs bore the appearance of being too heavy for him, like he was personally struggling against far more gravity than everyone else.
Saskia sipped her orange juice. After summer she was going to special effects make-up school, then the world was her oyster. Dad stumbled in, half drunk with sleep and sat heavily in the chair in front of her. "Y'up early," he said and raised his thick greying eyebrows and stifled a yawn.
"Had a new YouTube tutorial to upload," she replied. But already his head was slumped into the folds of his tartan pyjamas.
"Whaaa.."he mumbled through the fabric, "watching YouTube?" There was little point to this conversation.
"Yeah, that's right Pops, just wasting my life as usual." Saskia sat back with a grin, winding him up like this was too easy but to be honest, it just had to be done.
"No, no, doll. Focus. I told you, be focused." He raised his head and his eyes rolled as if the whole world was too much effort for them to take in. Saskia changed her face to serious just for him.
"Yes, Papa, focus. How about I make some more tutorials?"
"Yeah, Sass, that's it. Do that."