“Sleep aid, huh…”
“Come on! Please? It’s for a project!” Taylor pleaded with
me.I raised an eyebrow.
“Oh come on, don’t get all skeptic on me! You’re the one who
believes in horoscopes!”I opened my mouth to protest. “That was in middle school!” I
huffed, embarrassed.“You know what else started in middle school? Your sleeping
issues!” Taylor’s voice returned to its usual excited, over-hyped tone. “And
I’ve got just the solution for my 4.0! And your sleep problems, of course!”“Okay, but…I don’t get how it works.” I chewed my lip.
“White noise–”“Static.”
“Yeah whatever, static…that seems like it’d just be
unnecessarily loud. Like, I hate hearing static on the T.V. or on the radio.”“Because it blocks things out! And so when you’re
sleeping, it works! It’s a lot of sound science mumbo jumbo, you wouldn’t
understand.” Taylor pushed the headphones into my hands. “Just try it. I
promise I’ll find another test subject if it doesn’t work for you.”“Where are the wires?” I spun it around, observing the pair
of boring-looking earphones, if not a bit bulky.“It’s part of it! I just have a super small music player in
one ear. If you check the left side,”I checked.
“there’s a little switch – just flick that on when you
settle into bed and it’ll start the music player. I just put the one track on
it, so it’ll start playing.”“Huh. That’s neat. How’d you make it so that it turns off?
Does it turn off or just pause?”Taylor smiled sheepishly. “That…doesn’t work yet. I haven’t
figured it out yet. The switch is just for looks. So make sure you only turn it
on when you’re already in bed and ready to sleep. And allow for eight hours of
uninterrupted sleep.”I looked up. “I thought you said I’d definitely fall asleep
within half an hour.”“Well yeah but…uh, but you need eight hours for restful
sleep! I don’t want you to try it and only sleep for 2 hours and blame me when
you say you’re still tired.” Taylor offered a too-fast explanation. “I’m
running late for class. Don’t forget! Eight hours.”–
I checked the clock. 12:00 A.M. The earliest I’d ever gotten
ready for bed. More than eight hours allowed until I had to wake up at 8:30
A.M. My sleeping problems could just be from a bad sleeping schedule, I mused.
I settled into bed, got into a comfortable position, and placed the headphones
on – strangely comfortable, snug, almost custom fit to my head – a perfect fit,
if not a little too hard to take off. My finger hovered over the left hand
switch. I used to be afraid of static as a kid. Running down the stairs to my
parent’s bedroom, only to get stuck right outside the living room with the T.V.
on, static on the screen, static in my ears, static…that somehow unnerving
white noise sound, was going to help me sleep?Oh, whatever. If it didn’t work, I’d just make fun of Taylor
later.Flick.
I heard a click, as if the click of recording. Then –
So for the person
listening to this…I’m going to take you into a deep, deep sleep. I use…Taylor’s voice droned on in my head as I suppressed a
snicker. This low, calm voice was so unlike the usual too-fast, too-excited
voice I was used to. Taylor tried hard for this project. The explanations for
why the static worked effectively as a sleep aid, what the technical terms and
reasons were flew over my head. How long was this spiel going to last?And to think, it’s
only been 5 minutes. I hope you’ve relaxed a bit, listening to my voice. Seven
hours, fifty-five minutes to go. The static will fade in soon.No, twenty-five minutes, I thought to myself. Taylor had
promised half an hour of this noise would knock me out. And before I could
think any further, sure enough, I heard the faint sound of static in the back
of my head, low, rumbling, in my ears, getting louder, and louder, and louder…It was louder than I thought it would be. Surely a sleep aid
didn’t need to be this loud. And surely—Static.
God. It was so loud I could barely hear myself think. Or
think at all. It was blocking my thoughts out. It was just so…static.I guess it wasn’t horrible. It wasn’t nearly as bad as I
remembered it being when I was younger. It almost sounded like a heavy rain. A
heavy rain, a cloud, a fog over my head. It was comforting. But it was just
static. I could have sworn I heard a voice too, a soft one, but I was probably
just imagining it. Just static. It was comforting. Static.Static.
Static.
What was that? I could have sworn it was a voice saying
static. I know I didn’t imagine it. But I—So loud. The static was just so loud. Even if there were a
voice the static would be drowning it out.And I wasn’t sure. Why. There was a voice? That I didn’t
hear. That I wasn’t. I was? Not me. Another voice. But me too. I was. Static.
Static.“…Static…”
That voice sounded like me saying…static. Static. Static. “Static.” Repeating it with the voice in
my head, in my ears.Static. Static. My head was full of…sticky stuff. Hard to
move in. Hard to think. It felt weird. I felt scared. Like before. I tried to
move the headphones off but it was too tight around my head. My hands and arms
were too weak. I turned the switch off. Nothing happened. It kept continuing.
Getting louder. Just more and more static. Static. Static fading. Fading, but
still there. Static not in my ears. Static in my head.There was a *click*.
Static.
“Static.”
The voice sounded so familiar. It was just the voice now,
but the static was still there, still…still static…Static.
“Static.”
Static.
“Static.”
I wonder if you’re
aware during this second track.I’ll assume it’s
working. If not this track, then the next.“Static.”
Anyways, good, good. I’m so
glad you decided to trust me.“Static.”
I told you this would
help with your sleeping. And now you’re perfectly, deep, in a deep deeeeep
static sleep. Isn’t that right?“Static.”
And to think, we’ve
got seven hours, thirty minutes to go…oh, the things we’ll do while you’re in static.“Static.”
Static.
Static.
Static.