#FlashFictionMagic: Awakening

The alarm sounds. The glowing clock face shows 1:15 A.M. Rick reaches for his phone and dials.

“Hey,” Faith’s voice is warm but garbled. A loud hiss signals that she’s boarding a train.

“I miss you,” Rick says softly, his voice thick with sleep.

There is a thump and a clatter, the sound of scrambling. “Sorry. What did you say?”

“Nothing,” he says. “How was work?”

Faith says something, but he can’t hear it. He realizes she’s not talking to him. Someone must be riding with her.

“Listen,” she says after a moment. “You’ll probably lose me soon. Anything important?”

Rick pauses. There’s more than an ocean between them. The call is what’s important. “Nah, not really.”

“Well, I’ll let you go then,” she says.

The call ends, and Rick lies back against the cool pillow. After a while, he snatches the clock and turns off the scheduled alarm.

Tomorrow night, he’ll sleep straight through – on an international flight, heading home.