/Ella

Buzz of the laptop woke me up. It was still the middle of the night.

The work that I kept on exploring - my great quest - still in the document format on the screen. Auto saved multiple times.

I looked at the door - closed. It was open before. I remember how it was absolutely open before.

My eyes darted across the room - checking if all was still intact, in the same place, untouched.

I breathed out in relief - Erick was on the sofa. Asleep.

"Thank goodness it was just you." - I thought to myself.

Finding lighter and ashtray in the pile of paperwork scattered across the table was a little task. The piles of the paper could slush down if not moved carefully.

After finding the two ingredients, I reached into my pocket to pull a pack of reds out.

Flicker of a lighter, zip sound and the cigarette was lit. I took a sweet dose of nicotine.

Looking at my sleeping brother was my great meditation. He always looked absolutely peaceful, like all the worries in their world never exis