Chapter 108
- The lamp oil of midnight burned in the father's workspace, as he prepared materials for the following day's labor.
- Despite the late hour, he was not surprised to hear his nine-year-old son at the door.
- "Father," the boy said, "Father, I cannot sleep. Mine eyes will not close, nor will my body relax in yon bed.
- "I cannot lull myself to slumber. Deliver me from my restlessness, I beg of thee."
- The father went down to the kitchen to investigate, knowing his son's penchant for covert late-night snacking.
- And lo, within the food storage unit, sat the source of the child's anguish: an empty can which once held a beverage the child was forbidden to imbibe after the evening meal.
- The patriarch arched his eyebrow as he assessed the evidence.
- "Thou hast defied the Lord of Caffeine, he who laughs loud and long at man's need for rest," said the father.
- "If justice were served, thou wouldst not not escape thy self-inflicted insomnia. But I shall be merciful;
- "I give to thee half a sleep aid, and with this weapon shalt thou battle the Lord of Caffeine until he loses interest in thee at daybreak.
- And the father delivered the medication unto his son, then turned back to his work.
- And the boy trudged away to find the elusive path to sleep.
