#24 - Weight-lifting with my eyes

The title sounds rather gruesome. It's not, don't worry. I don't even think it's possible to actually lift dumbells with your eyes anyway. Maybe some Guinness World Record Holder has done it, but remember, they're probably insane.

I'm sure you've experienced this before.
It'll strike you when you least expect it.

You'll be in a lesson or a lecture, bright and eager to learn about new things.

9.09am
You enter, a ball of energy, speed to the front of the classroom/hall and grab a seat. You whip out some paper and a pen, and grin madly as your enthusiasm bubbles up inside of you.

Fine, maybe not, but basically, you're awake and alert and ready to take on this beast of a lesson.

9.10am
The teacher enters, and the lesson begins.

You're fine, you can do this. Just an hour and ten minutes until break.

9.11am
You've made it through a minute. One hour and nine minutes till break.

The teacher writes on the board and speaks. You listen to every word and duly take note.

You begin to doodle, because it's fun.
Oh snap, you've missed an important point that the teacher just said. Copy neighbour's notes. Neighbour snarls but lets you copy, albeit reluctantly.

Gradually, and quite inexplicably, the words that flow out of the teacher's mouth start to merge into one long monotonous drone that becomes softer and softer. You stop listening altogether and look out of the window. Ooh look, clouds.

9.45am
In the middle of this lesson, you begin to notice that your eyes are losing the ability to focus correctly and that your eyelids are getting heavier and heavier... You stifle a yawn and your eyes water. The sensitive, caring girl in the class looks at you worriedly, as if she thinks you're crying. You shoot her a look to say, get lost, bitch, I'm tough.
The room is stuffy; maybe the teacher has switched on the projector to show an explanatory clip of some sort and the lights are off... It's dark and warm and the cushioned chairs are oh-so comfortable... You lay your head in the crook of your elbow, and your eyes begin to close...

Then with a jolt, you spring up.

'No!' You tell yourself, 'I mustn't fall asleep!'

You hope that no one noticed your spasmodic jerk.

It is quite literally a Herculean effort to open your eyes; every time you blink, you struggle to open them again.

And so you begin to think of things that'll make you stay awake. You dig your nails into your hands so that the pain keeps you from being snug. You shift about everytime you start to feel sleepy. You cross/uncross your legs multiple times, scratch your nose, pull at hangnails, clear your throat, anything, just so long as you're occupied in doing something that isn't so distracting that the teacher will notice, but distracting enough for yourself so you don't doze off.

However, this can earn you disapproving looks from your fellow classmates.

So you resort to thoughts and plans for the future. Perhaps you make up stories in your head, like the one about the man-eating turnip that invaded London and devoured the population and only you, the superhero, could save mankind's destruction. Or the one about the boy who you walk past every morning at 7.45 and how you would one day stop and have babies a conversation with him.
Any thought or story at all, anything interesting that will save you from visiting the beckoning realm of sleep.

Apocalypse! Turnips!

You look at the clock and it's only 9.47am.