What If You Were the Only One Awake?

The clocks went back, and your whole house got a free extra hour in bed. You were there for every minute of it. What if you never needed sleep? Never tired, never sleepy. But your body clock still runs: every night from three to five you go cold and slow (you call it the dip), and a sleeping brain still listens for one word: its own name. Gran sleeps through thunder, but not through "Margaret." Mr Singh falls asleep in his own sleep lesson. The night shift waves at you from the same lamp post, right on time. And Mum bakes nights at the bakery on Lantern Square… until the morning of the Winter Lights market, six hundred bread rolls, and a mum who has been awake for twenty-two hours. Mr Okafor's corkboard of strange days gets clipping number twelve, and someone has pencilled a time on it. Twelve strange days, and a yellow raincoat in every photo. Dot the cat is hiding somewhere in this video (asleep, obviously). Did you spot her? CHAPTERS 0:00 The clocks go back 1:01 Zero hours, feeling fantastic 1:45 The 3 rules 2:48 Please Go To Sleep, Please 3:04 The back row 3:43 The sleep lesson 5:27 The night wave 6:41 The dip 7:47 Nights at the bakery 8:21 The left-shoe thief 9:19 Crumbs. Literally. 9:53 What Gran said 11:39 Six hundred rolls 13:17 Your turn 15:29 Winter Lights 16:46 Twelve strange days 17:00 Now test it 17:44 Reality Meter: 3% THE REAL SCIENCE A made-up story built on real science: Bramble Lane, the bakery and everyone in them are invented. SLEEP NOTE: the power is made up. Real people need sleep (teenagers 8 to 10 hours a night), and staying awake for days is harmful. Please don't try it. If you know somebody who works nights, send them this. They're probably awake. #WhatIf #NearlyPossible #Sleep