05/25/2026
" My roommate is a sleepwalker. One night, she just climbed right into my bed..........."
The first time it happened, he almost missed it. Jack had been asleep, the heavy dreamless kind that came from 12 hours of shifting boxes at the warehouse, his shoulders still humming with a memory of weight. His alarm was set for 6, and at 2:17 a.m., he was somewhere in the deep, that place where time lost its shape and his body became just a vessel for rest. Then, footsteps.
Light. Barely there. The soft brush of bare soles against cheap laminate flooring. His eyes opened before his brain caught up, a survival reflex he'd never quite managed to shake. The room was dark, but not blind dark. The blinds were cheap vinyl, the slats never quite closing all the way. And through the gaps, the street light two floors below bled in, painting everything in shades of orange and shadow.
He lay still, listening. The footsteps stopped, started again, a soft thud, her hip hitting the door frame of the bathroom. A muttered word he couldn't catch. Then the creak of the hallway floorboard, the one he'd been meaning to fix for months, the one that sang a low A flat every time someone stepped on it.
Jack sat up slowly, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. The air was cool on his bare feet. His T-shirt, gray, faded, a hole near the collar, hung loose on his frame. He padded to his door, which he always left open, old habit, closed doors meant ambush, and looked out. Emma stood in the middle of the hallway, swaying slightly.
Her hair was loose, falling over her shoulders in tangled waves. She wore an oversized shirt, something with faded letters he couldn't read, and her feet were bare, her toenails painted a chipped shade of dark red. Her eyes were open, but they weren't seeing. The blank, glassy stare of someone whose body had woken up while her mind was still miles away, wandering through whatever landscape dreams were made of.
She took a step forward, then another. Her arms hung at her sides, fingers twitching, and her lips were moving, shaping words too quiet for him to hear. Jack didn't call her name. He'd learned, somewhere in the distant past, that startling a sleepwalker could be dangerous. Instead, he moved into the hallway, keeping his steps soft, and positioned himself in front of her.
She walked straight into his chest. The impact was gentle. She barely had any momentum, but she stopped. Her hands came up, palms flat against his sternum, and she blinked slowly, like a camera trying to focus in low light. "Too dark," she murmured. "Can't find Can't find the" "It's okay," Jack said quietly.
His voice was low, even, the kind of tone you'd use with a spooked animal. "You're home. You're safe." She didn't respond. Her fingers curled against his chest, gripping the fabric of his shirt, and she leaned into him, just slightly, just enough that he could feel the tremble running through her, like a wire humming with current.
"You're in the hallway," he continued. "Your room is that way. Let's get you back to bed." He placed a hand on her shoulder, light guiding, and turned her gently. She went willingly, her feet shuffling, and he walked her back to her room, one slowed step at a time. The door was open. Her bed was unmade, the sheets twisted, and a single lamp burned on her nightstand, casting a warm yellow glow over the chaos.
Her room was always like this. Stacks of papers on the desk, half-empty coffee mugs on every surface, clothes draped over the chair, a small succulent on the windowsill, the only living thing she seemed able to keep alive. No photos, no posters, no evidence of a life that existed before she'd moved in 3 weeks ago. Two suitcases and a coffee maker, and a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
Jack guided her to the bed, and she sat down heavily, her body folding like a marionette with cut strings. He pulled the covers up over her legs, then paused. Her eyes were still open, still staring at nothing, and her lips were still moving. "Can't do it all," she whispered. "Everyone thinks I can, but I I'm so tired. I'm so" Her voice cracked.
A single tear slid down her cheek, catching a lamplight, and Jack felt something twist in his chest, a small sharp ache he didn't have a name for. He didn't know her well. Not yet. She was his roommate, a stranger who'd answered his Craigslist ad with a voice that sounded like she'd just run up three flights of stairs..............Full story below 👇👇👇