Erin's fingers were still curled in the shape of the game controller long after she defeated the bad guys, won the game, and jumped up with her arms in a victory V. She wanted to run and tell her older brother who was still pathetically stuck in the department store, killing zombie saleswomen in the same game, but Erin knew she must not disturb her family for they would be waking up in just a couple of hours.
Erin has been up for three whole days. At first, her mother thought she was just being disobedient but how many fourth graders can really stay up the whole night without succumbing to sleep?
Then the next night, same thing. The sleep would not come. Her father blamed sugar. Her mother said Erin must be having a bout of insomnia.
Then the third night. The worry lines and crow's feet started to dance more on her parents' faces. Did she accidentally swallow some pills? Did a stranger give her some suspicious candy? No and no, Erin was quick to reassure her parents.
However, Erin was not reassured. Her list of symptoms included: up all hours of the night, pale complexion and Aversion to sunlight (sort of). She licked her own blood once and didn't vomit. She was beginning to believe that she was a vampire.
She examined her teeth in the mirror, no fangs yet. There was still time as it was just months since her last baby tooth fell out. Her long bangs needed cutting and she knows that a vampire's hair grows back instantly. She promised herself that if she stayed awake for another night, she would cut her bangs. Not because she had an urge to defy her mom, who wanted Erin to grow out her bangs but for purely diagnostic reasons.
Tomorrow, she would go to the doctor. Tomorrow, her parents will get answers and perhaps receive a prescription to make the girl go to sleep and stop snooping around the attic because she's dying of boredom.
One hour is a long time for a child. There are several hours occurring in one night and there aren't many quiet activities that Erin enjoys doing. She tried sewing clothes for her dolls but kept poking her finger with the needle. She tried reading but nothing piqued her interest. She recently took up beading and beaded several bracelets for everyone in her household plus she sold a few to her classmates. She even took the beads out of the now broken dream catcher she made at camp three summers ago to complete the last bracelet she made. Erin asked her mom to buy some more but Mom was quick to shoot down that request with a stern, “No way!” In all honesty, thirty-three plastic beaded bracelets is quite for any one household.
After discovering that Erin had rearranged the cans and boxes of food in the kitchen by alphabetically order, Mom granted Erin special permission to use the computer during her next night of insomnia, if she felt inclined to do so. Provided that if she were to play any music or watch the same funny cat videos for the umpteenth time, she would have to wear headphones.
Before logging into her account, she noticed her brother left some ridiculous computer game out. “I have nothing else to do,” she figured. She had just exhausted her collection of cartoons on video tapes and read all of the junk mail in the house and sorted it into piles.
She was still silently cheering when she heard someone at the door. She froze and her mind ran instantly away from the zombie saleswomen, the corrupt police force (you would have to pick up an unbelievable amount of gold coins just to buy them off), and street cart vendors who try to run over the game player.
Erin knew she should probably hide in a closet or go wake up her dad. But since she's been up for so many hours without an end in sight, she's lost sense of time as well as common sense.
There was a light knocking at the door, as if someone knew that only one person was awake in the house but not the others. Erin opened the door.
She looked up at the stranger with the cowboy's hat. He was tall, yes, and he was strange, but there was nothing alarming in his presence.
“I know you have an appointment with the doctor later this morning, but I think I could squeeze you right now, if you don't mind. My schedule's a little tight.”
Erin nodded yes and let the man walk inside. She followed him into her bedroom. He pulled out stethoscope and checked her heart rate. He shined a light down her throat and into her ears. He tested her vision. Whether or not she passed these little check-up tests, the Fixer wouldn't know. He just plays the part. Then he pretended to notice the broken dream catcher, hanging on a bed post.
He pointed to it, “Well, there's your problem!” “What?” asked a confused Erin.
“A broken dream catcher. Instead of just catching nightmares, they caught all of your dreams. That's why you haven't been able to sleep these past few days.”He played a few rounds of Egyptian Ratscrew until the Fixer noticed she stifled a yawn with her card hand. Her reflexes, which are crucial to collecting cards and winning the game, were getting slow and sloppy. He turned off her lamp light, packed up his tools, and closed the front door.
Name: Erin Dickens
Think: Displaying symptoms of a becoming a vampire.
Things: Insomnia due to broken dream catcher.
Status: Fixed Pending As Is
Comments: Fixed the dream catcher with a bit of twine. Client is dreaming as we speak, and the catcher should catch just the bad ones now.