The boy lay sleeping in his bed, eyelids fluttering quickly like the wings of a hummingbird. He was peaceful, rested, even. Though his enormous feet and gangly legs stuck off the end of his extra-long twin, he looked childish with his arms wrapped around an extra pillow. His slightly dirty hair was tucked behind his left ear, with one piece tickling his freckled forehead.

The subtle red light coming from his $9.99 alarm clock illuminated 2:59. Just as the clock switched to 3:00, his phone began to vibrate under his striped pillow. It took a few moments for the silent movement to rouse him, but then his lids flicked open to reveal lively green eyes which darted to the phone and turned the alarm off.

He rose from the bed, cracked his knuckles, slipped out of bed, and slid on his red tee shirt from the Big and Tall Store. Two of him could have fit in there; his height was so disproportionate to his width.

He walked from the room and nudged open the door to his sister’s bedroom. She slept as placidly as he had been just moments before. The floorboard mumbled as he slunk down the hall to find his parents in bed as well.

The boy walked back to his room, opened his closet, and reached into the pocket of his red parka. He grabbed his supplies and walked down the two flights of stairs to the basement, where he opened the wide french doors and stepped outside into the warm summer air. He tapped his striped tabby back inside, and closed the doors behind him.

A toad was croaking as he seated himself on the bench to the red picnic table. The paint was chipping off, but no one cared to repaint it anymore. The boy extended his left arm out and used his mouth to help tie the rubber band just above his elbow. He proceeded to pour several drops of water into a small vial and shake it feverishly. He dipped the needle of his empty syringe into the cylindrical bottle, and pulled in what he supposed was 5mL. It was hard to tell without any light.

His arm was red and ready now, the circulation sufficiently stopped by the tourniquet, and he injected the caramel liquid into his vein- even in the dark, he had no trouble finding it. He pushed the last drop out and removed the needle from his vein. A drop of red blood leaked from the incision point just as a light clicked on upstairs, revealing a redhead in the window.