Eight

She lies awake staring at the ceiling fan an expression on her face as though she is awed by the circling of the electric device in her line of vision.
The rhythm of her heart matches that of the watch on her wrist. A habit she has been unable to rid herself of: wearing her watch to bed. Maybe it's the absence of a bedside clock. Or maybe it is just one of those things people just find themselves doing. She steals a look at the watch. It is two in the morning. And she still could not sleep. She wonders if she should go back to that prescription she had a few months ago of sleeping pills. She immediately crashes the idea like a bug and decides she will live through her acquired insomnia. She gets off the bed and reaches for her book from where it lay on the floor.
Switching on the light she winces at the blinding effect it had on her eyes and then sits on her bed and tries to read failing to concentrate. She gives up and picks up a sweater and puts on her sneakers and pulls up the hood of her sweater to block the brittle wind. She descends to the living room and opens the door letting her out. Having locked up she leaves the house and slips quietly outside the gate. It was unnaturally cold for the Dar as Salaam climate but it was a good change from the heat she was accustomed to.
She starts to walk slowly totally immersed in her own world, uncaring of the darkness and the dangers that may be laying in wait in the shadows. It felt nice. The whole area to herself. No one around to look, to jeer or to look at her. She hums a tune and stops to look up in the sky. It was clear. She smiles and wonders what the hell people think of going into space instead of just watching from a distance how beautiful the sky looks. She lets her thoughts wonder at random...aliens, the paranormal...was any of it true? Sure, she knew there was God. And that everything that happened in this world was a clock showing where we are headed and all the hidden signs that mortal man cant see, the amazing things that one cannot begin to list the magnitude of...it was a vast feeling of incompleteness and lack of depth for all the mysteries out there that were staring in our faces.
Sighing, she resumes her steps and takes a corner. A startled dog yelps and takes off in the opposite direction and she feels her own heart increase its rhythm. She is still scared of dogs. Damn! A child's cries pierce the night and she wonders about how vulnerable we all are in our sleep. Not knowing what or who will attack when. But with God watching it is only what He allows that will happen.... and for a reason too. This thought brings the many issues clogging her mind, body and spirit hindering growth of each....