Slumberland Page 17

  Nocturnal polyuria— Urinating while asleep.

  When I was younger, around the age of ten, I came into my parent’s bedroom in the middle of the night. My mother tells me that I didn’t answer when she asked what I needed. Standing there, staring at the covers, I pulled my pants down and peed a steady stream into her open purse that lay on the floor.

  “Felix Sherman Hines,” she said, trying to wake me. “You’re making a mess.”

  In my head, Mom’s purse was a black bowling ball with a sparking fuse that was burning down to the explosives inside. It needed to be extinguished. There was limited time to intervene a deadly explosion.

  In reality, I snatched her purse from the floor and ran to the bathroom, tossing it and all of its contents into the toilet. Her cosmetic compact let out tiny bubbles until it filled with enough water to sink, and came to rest at the bottom next to her wallet and some coin change.

  Luckily, this morning, my shriveled super-soaker had been aiming at the kitchen sink. Oddly enough, my sleeping brain knows to inform my body where it’s not allowed to pee. If something is protected with plastic, it never becomes a target. Had I left the television uncovered, somehow my other brain would have thought it needed a dousing.

  My electric razor, as well as my toothbrush, hair comb, and other toiletries, are kept on top of the medicine cabinet. I have to stand on my tiptoes to reach them. If they were stored at closer range, they could also become candidates for aiming practice.

  Shaving is something I’ll need to do in the car today, since time is working against me. There are two minutes I set aside each morning for brushing my teeth. However, that time will have to be shortened. I could brush them while getting dressed but it’s important not to make a mess of my clothes.

  One of my dress socks is shorter than the other. But finding a pair that matches and changing into them will set me back at least a minute. This is time I need to spend wiping up the puddles left in the kitchen.

  It’s not so much the mess that bothers me. Cleaning up is easy. But sometimes a scent can get stuck in your head and stick with you for hours to come.

  Hyperosmia— a heightened sense of smell.

  This pee problem isn’t something that I’m proud of. It’s something that I live with for now, something that I’m able to manage, something I was told I would outgrow.

  There’s a long running prescription I’ve had stashed away for this ailment. I don’t like to take it often because of its side effects. Well, general effects really.

  These tiny, purple pastel pills reduce the body’s ability to pee. Take one before bed.

  I’m not completely cured but since these incidents don’t happen as often, I don’t take the pills regularly.

  This morning, the bottle seems a little light. It doesn’t rattle when I shake it and I pop off the top to see that it’s empty.

  This matters because it’s important.

  I have to rid myself of this disorder. To have any kind of relationship or normal life, I have to free myself of it. I make a mental note to call in a refill.

  According to the clock, I only have fifteen minutes to get to work. My arrival time has to be perfect. It has nothing to do with my attendance record and nothing to do with getting into trouble.

  But there’s something I have to do.

  Something I have to check on.

  Something I have to verify.

  And if I don’t arrive at just the right moment, if I walk in a second too early or too late, everything will be ruined.

  BRIGHTSIDE is available on Amazon

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  Facebook.com/BrightsideNovel

  SLUMBERLAND TRIVIA

  Sierra Preston was inspired by a real-life traffic reporter. The two share hobbies and a physical likeness. Her first name is hidden in the story.

  Any series of numbers below 26 are meant to match letters in the alphabet to form a word or name.

  Each post on the book’s Facebook page uses the umbrella emoji as a bullet. Not only because the story’s plot is based on the weather, but also because ‘umbrellas’ is an anagram for ‘slumberland.’

  Other novels by the author, both past and future, are referenced in this story.

  Posts made to Sierra’s social media page are from characters in “Brightside.”

  The times on Sierra’s clocks, along with a few other numbers throughout the story, are consecutive in the Fibonacci Sequence.

  The mystery man is the author but they only share a likeness. Unlike the character in this novel, the author has never been married and only has one child.

  Avery is inspired by one of the two editors and appears in every novel written by the author. Just like the character, she’s a real-life police officer.

  The second editor has a character of his own, Mr. Bridges. In the therapy scene, Mr. Bridges has a new baby, just like the real-life editor.

  The sofa in Mr. Bridge’s office was replaced because of what happened in “Brightside.”

  The inspiration for Doctor Lane is not a real doctor, but his daughter is.

  All of the songs heard by Sierra are about dreams.

  Sierra Preston was born on March 14th at 1:59.

  (Pi = 3.14159)

  To understand Sierra’s insomnia, the author stayed awake as long as possible, reaching 56 hours straight. Sierra shares the same hallucinations, illusions, and visual disturbances. Including the sense of inanimate objects, like the sunflower, having personality.

  Characters drink a fictional brand of whiskey referencing the author’s first book, “Red Flags.”

  Avery’s daughter is really in the hospital because of what happens in the upcoming book, “Valiant.”

  (Expected summer 2019)

  “Slumberland” is the second novel after “Brightside” that gives descriptions using pastel colors. These are referred to by the author as the “pastel novels.” Read separately, the stories stand alone but expand along a timeline much like a series. Sierra Preston gives the weather on Felix Hines’ television in “Brightside.” Jermaine Hudson, the bar manager, is the main character for the upcoming novel, “One Up.”

  In both “Brightside” and “Slumberland,” a news anchor headlines a story about The A Corporation. This is foreshadowing to a major four-part project by the author, “From the Sky,” which is expected to begin early 2020. You may also notice the crooked “A” logo on the back cover of this book and others.

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