Games
Problems
Go Pro!

Writing > Users > David Ratcliffe > 2012

Writing Resources from Fifteen Minutes of Fiction


The following is a piece of writing submitted by David Ratcliffe on March 10, 2012
"First post. Hi to you all."

3:30 in the Morning

Air travel. Don't you just love it? Or hate it? Probably both. Last week I flew back from London to Beijing and for the following nights I watched the clock turn slowly from 1.00am to 4.00am. By 3.30am my thoughts had turned away from craving mogadon, watching I Love Lucy reruns and Tomb Warrior scenarios. So just how to airline pilots, air stewardesses, executives (apart from investment bankers, who we all wish never to sleep easy in their beds again) cope with the constant shifts in time zones.
And how does time work anyway? Why is the sun shining in New York and not in Beijing? When new Yorkers get up, will they not make the same mistakes during the day that we did? So 3.30am questions tend to be mind-blowing until you read them again in the cold light breakfast. That's when you start to think maybe I was asleep but dreaming that I was awake. Or that I was awake but in an alternative universe that is always dark?
Finally why are problems, dilemmas, illnesses always much more serious at night. I suddenly realise that that mole on my back is carcinogenic - first thing in the morning I'm off to the doctor and have it lanced. And that's no ordinary verruca, it's the beginnings of the black plague. I know, I'm an expert at 3.30am and I watched Contagion too.
So who needs to sleep? Keep your eyes open and continue to worry - after all someone has to, don't they?

More writing by this author


Blogs on This Site

Reviews and book lists - books we love!
The site administrator fields questions from visitors.
Like us on Facebook to get updates about new resources
Home
Pro Membership
About
Privacy