3a.m. Adventure During Lockdown

Klára Petrová

I woke up in the middle of the night. My eyes opened almost automatically, as if I had some kind of alarm clock set in my head. Looking around, I got used to the dark and unclear shadows were gradually turning into more recognisable objects. For the past couple of months, I was used to this environment. Maybe too used to it in fact... I sat up. I was asleep just about 2 seconds. At least it felt like it. After awhile, it came to my mind that it could not have been 2 seconds. Looking out of the window, the sky was so dark that I couldn't distinguish the other building surrounding me. Was it possible that the street lights were out? Something wasn't adding up. After a couple of seconds I found myself staring at the same spot completely without a reason.

 I stood up. My feet felt so light, my upper body, on the contrary, felt like I had a bag of cement on my shoulders. It was a strange feeling. Without any knowledge of consequences what my actions would bring, I took a few steps towards the exit of the room. Forgetting that the door handle makes an averagely loud noise during the day, while at night we could compare it to a literal heavy machine, I opened the door. My heart was pounding so loudly that I felt like I just made another sound that cut trough the absolute silence.

I got out of the room. "Go straight. Turn right. After two steps turn left. Continue straight." My brain was sending me instructions and I was automatically following them. Suddenly it felt like I've been teleported to some forrest. My hair got caught in petty branches with a lot of leaves and I felt like my heart almost stopped for the second time this night. Until I realised it. We've got two full-grown Benjamin plants in the living room.

This story got real lengthy real quick I suppose. Let me break it down for you. I just went to get a midnight snack after I unexpectedly woke up. As I've been practically isolated at home for a couple of months, a night journey from my room to the kitchen was never more compelling. If this "quarantine situation" taught me something, it most certainly is that even an early-morning trip through our apartment could be a pretty cool adventure.