The alarm went off. The incessant beeping jarred me awake. I scrunched my shoulders and gritted my teeth against the noise as I jumped out of bed and hit the snooze button with a practiced slap. The clock read 5:50 am as I climbed back into the small twin sized bed with Mary Ann. I clambered under the thick comforter and snuggled up against her body for warmth.
“What time is it?” Mary Ann asked, raising her head.
“Huh?” I mumbled, already half-asleep. “Oh, a little before six.”
“I should go,” she said placing her chin on my arm, sitting half up.
“Yes,” I responded before promptly falling back asleep.
I was nudged awake. “There is something crawling on me,” Mary Ann said in a frantic voice, She brushed at herself as she lay face down on her stomach.
“Yeah,” I responded without understanding. I saw her faintly in the early morning light through my squinted eyes. But my eyes closed and I was immediately asleep.
“I killed it,” Mary Ann crowed, reawakening me after only a few seconds. “I smashed it on me and brushed it into the crack between the wall and the bed.” I raised up on my elbows as I tried to comprehend what she was talking about.
“Good thing the light was off or I would have been too scared,” Mary Ann continued. “It felt big and hairy.” She readjusted the pillow for her head preparing to lie back down.
“My hero,” I said blandly, teasing her. I gave her a hug.
Mary Ann burst into laughter, squeezing me back. “My hero!” she repeated back, giggling, as I joined in. We laughed together for a few moments.
I drifted quickly back to sleep and decided I shouldn’t tell her about the black hairy spiders with the yellow spots on their backs that I often saw cruising around lately.
The loud alarm went off again a few moments later.
