An Eternal Dusk

I woke up from a nightmare, jolting out of bed with a puddle of sweat surrounding the inner layer of my clothes, as I never slept without putting on multiple articles of clothing. In the darkness, I always managed to wake up teeth-chattering and shivering when I chose to sleep with just a simple, checkered pair of pajamas.

“You OK?” called out my brother from the other side of the room. He was tucked in tightly to the sheets like a prairie dog peeking out of its hole. Animals no longer populated the wild, as the only animals that could survive the treacherous colds and everlasting nights of the…