Another Kind of Sleeping Beauty

[François Laffont]

François didn't mean for this to happen. Even when he came to school slightly tired, he never fell asleep like that. But it seemed clear to anyone passing by him that he was not standing up and getting ready for the next class.

It was all the storm's fault. He barely slept last night because of it. He couldn't help it, he was always a little nervous whenever he heard thunder. Alright, a lot nervous. So much that he couldn’t close one eye until he no longer heard any of it. Music didn't help as he waited for the next bolt of light to flash in the sky. Once that stopped, Franck finally managed to start relaxing. He could try and forget about the wind hitting his window with some music. Of course, the adrenaline that ran through his veins during the whole duration of the storm made it hard for him to sleep at all that night. As a result, he woke up and felt as if he slept only five minutes. No need to say he was terribly tired and the soporific class he had this early in the morning didn’t help his state. This was why, when he came to the cafeteria to relax between this last class and his training session, Franck fell asleep.

He didn't mean to do that. He just wanted to rest a little, certain that he would hear the bell when it would be time for him to get up and go to class. Just a bit of rest, for his eyes and brain, so he could function normally. Except that his eyes and brain wanted it so much, they didn’t care if Franck was sitting there in the cafeteria, using a book and his arms as pillow. They didn't care that there were some people also there, waiting to head to their next class, making noise. It was true that there weren’t too many people. Most had to be either in their dorm picking their stuff or in the student lounge or outside while the temperature was still kind to them.

He didn’t hear the bell. He was not disturbed by people passing by him on their way to class. He stayed there, asleep.