TM #183 - Tell me a secret.
((Locked to Sharon))
I don't really sleep much.
I know that you know how many sleepless or almost-sleepless nights I had during my days as "Mayor" of Dogville. The truth is, though, that I have a lot more nights like that than full nights of sleep. In fact, I doubt if I've stayed out of it for more than four or five hours at a stretch in a couple of years.
As best as I can remember, it started back on Caprica. Even though I didn't have any doubts that I didn't have much time left alive, I wasn't resigned to it, either. Constantly on the run, constantly on edge, fearing for my life, two hours of sleep at a shot was a luxury. I was running on adrenaline and stims and fear, and that's a really terrible recipe for a good night's sleep. I would catch what I could, tucking myself into the hollows of trees or whatever shelter I could find. Hell, I even spent a night curled around a tree branch, ten feet from the ground.
And it's really never gotten that much better.
Maybe it's because I've always got so much on my mind. Which, okay, it doesn't make me all that different from everyone else aboard the Galactica, but anyone would have to admit that we've been dealing with some pretty unique and pretty serious troubles since we got here. Well, it seems that all that has a tendency to stick in my head, and not let go.
I've gotten good at laying in bed and resting, my breath deep and even and my body as still as I can make it. That's not sleep, though.
All in all, I feel like I'm doing pretty well despite it. I've never fallen asleep at the stick, never nodded off during either of the Adamas' briefings. Hera gets the attention she needs, and I'm hoping you do, too.
So if you happen to wake up in the middle of the night and I'm pacing or reading or working or anything, now you know why. And I'll be fine. I've got a lot of practice.
So... that's my secret.
Capt. Karl "Helo" Agathon
Battlestar Galactica
358 Words