Another heatwave

And so I lay here again. Unable to sleep. Again. I huff, swinging my arms above my head, my hands hitting the pillow.

Yet another heatwave. Another one! I feel like I’m dying, like I’m slowly being roasted, a turkey ready for Christmas.

I pull in a deep breath, it feels like a struggle. The air is hot and feels like a physical force. I am not made for hot weather. And to be brutally honest I never expected to have to deal with it in England. We should have a couple of nice warm weeks of summer and that’s it. At least it was when I was a child.

Wow, way to age yourself! I chuckle. Sweat rolls down my face in to my already soaked hair. My back is drenched, so is the bedsheet beneath me. Bloody heat. I sigh, and it feels like the house sighs with me, a slight groan. Poor house, nearly two hundred years old and built for cold winters, it must be hotter than me! I wonder whether houses can go through menopause too. I snort, I must be more dehydrated than I thought.

I push myself off the bed, trying not to notice the sweat left behind, it looks like a wet version of one of those chalk body outlines.

I slowly descend the stairs, taking my time to not slip, last thing I need is to tumble down the stairs, bloody hell, those poor paramedics having walk in the BO stink of the week long heatwave with zero air conditioning. I reach the bottom step and pause for a few seconds, it’s slightly cooler downstairs, not by much, but still.

I turn the light on and walk to the kitchen, pour myself some water, in to the mug my family gave me last birthday. I look at my smiling photo wrapped around the mug, and give it the finger. It’s too hot for smiles, it feels like myself taunting myself. I gulp water. Force myself to stop. Sip it, the voice of mother says in my head, or you’ll feel sick. So I do. I lean my butt against the kitchen counter, close my aching eyes, if I could just sleep!

Jingle, jingle.

I snap my eyes open. What the hell? Is Santa early?

A small meow, I look through the window in to the back garden. A little cat sits at the door.

“What are you doing out in this heat?” The cat taps its paw on the glass. I unlock the door, kneel down. The tabby climbs on my lap, already purring. I recognise the cat, she’s a neighbours. “ You thirsty baby?” I slowly stand, tabby jumps off my lap and follows me in to the kitchen. She sits and watches me as I get a bowl out and fill it with water. “Here you go.” I say the bowl clinking as I place it on the tiled floor in front of her. She laps the water. We drink our water side by side in silence.

A few minutes later she shakes her head and walks back outside. “Bye then!”

I put my mug down, look at the back door, I’ll leave it open for the rest of the night, seeing that it four in the morning. If anyone wants to rob me, good luck to them. I refill the bowl, place it outside and start to head back upstairs. The heat hits me like a wall. Ugh. I sigh, slink back to bed and lay down. I hear a faint jingle and smile.