Sleep

So I've been laying here on my bed waiting for sleep to come. Waiting to close my eyes and open them in a different place, a different time. Perhaps I'll be pulled back to my time - plus a few days or weeks. Perhaps I'll be pushed back to some prior year, to barely miss another significant event. Perhaps I'll even see one of the Unchanging, like the Rawboned Man or Shivering Johnny or the Bloodletter.


Of course, none of that will happen unless I fall asleep. Which won't happen if Bally keeps asking me questions.


"So how was it?" she asked. "Thriller? I haven't seen it."


"It was fine," I said. "I liked Fantasia better though."


"Oh," she said.


We all changed our names when we became Pilgrims. Bally changed hers to "Ballerina." She thought it sounded beautiful. It did, but it also felt silly to call her that, so we just call her Bally. It would probably make more sense to call her "Rina," but when have we ever made sense?


"Is there," she started to say and then stopped. "Is there anything I should know? About the next year? Is anything bad going to happen?"


There was a long pause, since I didn't exactly know what to say.


"No," I said. "Nothing bad's going to happen."


"You swear?" Bally asked.


"I swear," I said. "Now be quiet, I'm tired and I want to get a good amount of sleep before I become unstuck again."


"Okay," she said. She went to leave, then turned back to me and whispered, "Thanks, A."


"You're welcome," I whispered back, then closed my eyes until she left. Then I got up from my bed and went to the computer as silently as a could and typed this entry. Because, before I go back, I just wanted to say one thing:


I'm sorry for lying to you, Bally.