I couldn’t see.

The long hallway was completely unlit. Six? Seven? doorways to walk past to the bathroom at the end of the hall. The house was old, drafty, Victorian grand scale and maybe this was a bad idea. 3:00am waking and I’d “taken care of myself” to get back to sleep but my fingers smelled like pussy and I had to pee and it was distracting me from settling back down.

Baby steps. Hands outstretched in front of me, my feet keeping to the threadbare rug running down the center. But I got there. Pulled the light cord, garish bare bulb on the celling, squinting to keep the light out of my eyes as much as possible. Peed. Washed. Tied my robe.

Back in the hall, light out, I was completely blind. Inching along.

Three... Four... Five... Reached my door. Robe dropped, sliding back under the covers.

In the dark, an unfamiliar voice, “well, hello there, missy.”