Up All Night | Teen Ink

Up All Night MAG

By Anonymous

Here I am, motionless except for the occasional deep sigh. I’m staring at the clock, watching the minutes tick by. My mom told me to count sheep. By now I have counted so many sheep that I never want to see another in my life. My brother told me to listen to my iPod. I ended up strangling myself with my headphones. My sister told me to count backward from 100. All that did was get me confused.

So now I just sit here thinking. Thinking of how almost everyone else in town is asleep. It is 1:07 now. In five hours and 23 minutes I will be getting up and starting a new day.

My mind wanders to almost any topic. From band competitions to what I am going to wear tomorrow. I was always told to shut my mind down when I try to sleep, but my fear is that it will never start back up again.

3:26. Three hours and four minutes left, and all I can think about is how well-rested I would be after three hours of sleep. Now I think about my dogs and my cat and how stupid they are, but then I realize I am the stupid one. Right now my dogs and my cat are all asleep, and they will wake up well-rested and ready for the day. Why can’t I drift off for an hour or two? It doesn’t make sense. So many people fall asleep without even trying, like during class or on the bus. I have to work for sleep, which almost defeats the purpose because sleeping is supposed to be peaceful, not work.

5:49. Less than an hour now. I might as well get up instead of torturing myself. It is useless now. It shouldn’t be this hard.

6:07. I don’t remember the last time I had a full night’s sleep. I lie awake listening to the sounds of my silent house. The soft snores coming from my parents’ room, the soft drip, drip of the faucet.

6:29. One minute left. One more minute to attempt to sleep. BEEP BEEP BEEP. Hopefully I will have better luck tonight. But I know that tonight will be just like the rest.



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This article has 21 comments.


on May. 18 2011 at 8:54 am
RadiahMariaBelak BRONZE, Singapore, Other
1 article 3 photos 63 comments
WOW, you're totally relating to me as well. NICE PIECE!

on May. 18 2011 at 8:39 am
Cool_Nerdy_Girl BRONZE, Waldron, Michigan
2 articles 0 photos 3 comments

Favorite Quote:
Doing a wrong thing for the right reason is still a wrong thing. -Unknown

Insomnia is mor ethan Exhausting.  You can't sleep, and when you do it is usually accompied by nightterrors.  I myself now am on sleeping pills but it is still a daily battle.

duxlax21 said...
on Apr. 4 2011 at 7:56 pm
Your great at writting! Great job! it kept me reeally interested to hear what you had to say!(:

on Nov. 1 2010 at 9:15 pm
TheBlueGirl BRONZE, Crosby, Texas
2 articles 0 photos 5 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Only the weak minded refuse to be Influence by literature and poetry"(Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare)
"One Must be alway be careful of books.... and what is inside them, for words have power to change us" (Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare)

I love your writing, amazing. i've read a book with the main character cant sleep either its called Along for the ride by Sarah Dessen. While reading the book i actually wanted to have insomnia but it must be hard being exhausted 

on Apr. 19 2010 at 6:28 pm
xBaByGiRrL22x PLATINUM, Pearl River, New York
22 articles 0 photos 280 comments

Favorite Quote:
"The goal isn't to live forever, but create something that will."
"If you wanna go, baby let's go; if you wanna rock, I'm ready to roll.''
"No one ever said it'd be easy. They just said it'd be worth it." <3

i luv the last couple sentencez. it was a gr8 conclusion. gr8 jobb 

on Mar. 6 2010 at 6:32 pm
babigerl1194 PLATINUM, Margaretville, New York
23 articles 10 photos 155 comments

Favorite Quote:
wat doesnt kill you only makes you stronger

wats insomnia?

redhead_aly said...
on Mar. 5 2010 at 9:43 pm
thank you so much for all the compliments and advice!! i will be sure to try all of your tips. (:

blue jay said...
on Mar. 4 2010 at 2:34 pm
To help me go to sleep I have a pitch black room. being in the dark makes me tired. If you really want to go to sleep drink a warm glass of milk and give it time. Now have your mom sing you a lalla by.

on Mar. 4 2010 at 1:40 pm
If u really wanna go to sleep, go run alap or two around the block. GUARENTEE youll fall out

on Jan. 31 2010 at 5:04 pm
B.R.Nack SILVER, Grand Junction, Colorado
5 articles 0 photos 47 comments

Favorite Quote:
“...Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.”
--Stephen King

wow this is really great you are a very talented writer, but its unfortunate you have trouble getting to sleep though Mi dispiace

on Jan. 9 2010 at 11:53 am
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz BRONZE, Riverside, Connecticut
1 article 0 photos 14 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly."

I also have anxiety, so I see a psychiatrist. It really helps, also I take Melatonin when i can't sleep.

on Nov. 15 2009 at 8:10 am
Miss_Bliss GOLD, Waban, Massachusetts
17 articles 0 photos 31 comments

Favorite Quote:
"If we did all the things we were capable of, we would literally astound ourselves."

-Thomas Edison

Ugh, this was almost too painful to read! I'm not actually an insomniac, but it still takes me forever to fall asleep...my mind will go at a mile a minute for hours before I actually drift off. You made your experience so vivid, it was incredibly easy to imagine. Nice job, and I hope you have better luck sleeping.

KitKat927 said...
on Nov. 14 2009 at 2:49 pm
I also suffer from anxiety. It helps me to go over what went right in the day. I know sometimes it's hard to see the bright side of things. For me there are days when I just can't, but as long as you keep trying it will come to you. I am sorry that you can't talk to your mom about it, but maybe in the morning try to talk to your friends about it. It helps me when something happens that's really upsetting me I talk it out with my friend as soon as I can.

I hope that helps. Good Luck.

on Nov. 13 2009 at 4:45 pm
rAinDroPsdRip SILVER, Fairfield, Ohio
6 articles 0 photos 150 comments

Favorite Quote:
\\\"never give up on something you cant go a day withouth thinking about\\\" \\\"carpe diem\\\"

Shes got insomnia...it makes it so it is really really hard/impossible to get to sleep at night.

I loved it, is was great :D

Kwstar said...
on Aug. 1 2009 at 3:41 am
Love it I hate insomina good luck

on Jul. 26 2009 at 3:28 am
Hay_Wire PLATINUM, Independence, Missouri
42 articles 0 photos 219 comments
yeah. i have insomnia also. its a pain. the thing is, people dont seem to get it. no matter how exhausted i get, its so...impossible. good luck.

on Feb. 19 2009 at 12:03 am
Swimming_Beyond_The_Horizon, Boston, Massachusetts
0 articles 0 photos 2 comments
I know exactly how this is. Every night I try to go to sleep but can't. I'm not an insomniac, but I suffer from anxiety. All I can do is worry about EVERYTHING.



I try to explain to my mom, but she doesn't get it. I fall asleep for a couple of hours, wake up and can't go back to sleep. So I talk to her and all she does is get mad because I woke her up. It's comforting to know that I'm not alone with my sleeping problems.



I now am on Melatonin and that helps a little bit. I'm going back to the doctor in a couple of weeks to see what's up with their....choices. haha. I also just wrote a story on this site called "Hide and Seek with My Mind" and its about the struggle I face with the nightmares that follow me around. It says the editors are reviewing it so...Look for it, Ok? =)



Anyways, I wish you the best of luck.

It's quite a rollercoaster so, wear a seatbelt XD



~ Swimming



PS: Try inhaling and when exhaling breathe the word "peace" in your mind. It takes a little while but it seems to help me fall asleep, so I figured it might help you.

lola said...
on Feb. 12 2009 at 7:40 am
I've heard that for some people with insomnia, doing yoga during the day can be really effective. Also sleeping pills, if your doctor approves of them, could help. But also, maybe you have problems with anxiety? I've been suffering from anxiety problems since middle school and back then I wasn't able to sleep a wink. Wish you all the best.

violinneg said...
on Jan. 31 2009 at 3:16 am
Insomnia is an odd concept to wrap your mind around. I, myself, have trouble explaining it even though I have it myself. Your mind can't rest. All you can think about is...well, anything, really. It is a struggle to fall asleep; sleeping is a task in itself.

redhead_aly said...
on Jan. 27 2009 at 10:33 pm
i wrote this and thank you! c: i cant sleep because i have something called insomnia. it prevents me from being able to rest. it is really hard to explian...