NIGHT SHIFT
Being accustomed to a 9-to-5 routine is nice. The key word obviously being, routine. You know when to be where you need to be, and can adjust accordingly. Usually that means going to sleep on the same day you woke up, which is comforting.
Adjusting to the night shift is a whole different matter. All of a sudden you are up at the same time, but you have a full day's worth of hours to fill before your day even starts.
It's an adjustment.
You leave work and step out into the night. The first thing you feel is the close embrace of humidity and the silence that comes from a city at sleep.
The streets, roads, and highways are nearly deserted. When a car does eventually pass, the roar of the engine is almost deafening. It is not like the daytime.
A shroud of subdued secret has descended. Most people are asleep, dreaming of possibilities endless.
Your tired legs carry you forward towards your eventual goal of home through a slumbering world, one that is enviable in its respite.
Following the night shift, your only longing is for the pillow and the promise that it holds, but your mind does not heed the call. Sleep is the ideal, yet it remains an unattainable dream.
There are too many things left unfinished, too many things that still need to be done. And you set out with the best of intentions to fulfill those goals and only then do the sleeping masses beckon.
You too can be one of them, but first you must admit defeat and call an end to your day. All things do eventually come to a close, including the mind's ability to persist.
The night shift provides opportunity to excel and admit defeat. It is a truly unique time of day, one marked by both a deafening solitude and the promise of a new day about to begin. Where the sent of fresh bread replaces fried chicken and coffee replaces alcohol as the elixir of choice.
But not for you. For you, neither is an option because sleep is the only thing you crave. She is an elusive destination, but she will find you unannounced and welcome you into her embrace before you even realize she has come calling.
That is the beauty of the night shift. Sweet dreams.
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