The Pretend-Sleep Survival Mission

WHY did pretending to be asleep feel like a life-or-death mission?? I hear ONE floorboard

creak, and suddenly I’m a statue. Breathing on manual. Eyes glued shut

like superglue. Phone under the pillow, controller under my thigh,

blankets perfectly staged like a crime scene. My brain’s like ‘DO NOT MOVE OR

YOU DIE.’ Then the door opens—light hits my face—I stop swallowing. My leg itches.

I’m fighting for my life. She whispers my name… I don’t blink… I don’t breathe…

and then— ‘I made snacks.’ Bro , I JUMPED UP LIKE A ZOMBIE. Oscar's performance—ruined.”