Five More Minutes

I woke up before the alarm clock rang.

The room was still dim. The light coming through the gap in the curtains was not strong enough to tell anyone to get up.

I looked at the phone beside my pillow.

6:59.

I thought I would sleep for one more minute.

The moment I thought that, the alarm clock on the side table made a small sound.

Beep.

That was all.

My usual alarm was much more persistent. It kept going until I stopped it, and just when I thought it was done, it came back after a short pause.

This time, unfamiliar words appeared on the screen.

“Five more minutes.”

I laughed under the blanket.

That was supposed to be my line.

There was a snooze button on top of the clock. I had not touched it.

Five minutes later, the alarm clock made the same small sound.

On the screen, slightly smaller words appeared.

“A little longer.”

How long was a little longer?

I thought about that for a while, then decided it was time to get up.

The clock blinked its dots slowly. It did not exactly look asleep, but it did not exactly look awake either.

7:10.

If it did not start ringing properly soon, I was going to be in trouble.

I tapped the side of the clock with one finger.

Words appeared on the screen.

“The one doing the waking needs time to prepare too.”

That made sense.

Every morning, I was woken without preparing for it at all. I had never considered that the one doing the waking might need preparation.

I washed my face, boiled water in the kitchen, and put bread in the toaster. The alarm clock did not ring.

After finishing my coffee, I checked my phone and saw that more time had passed than I expected.

At that moment, a loud noise came from the bedroom.

Beep beep beep beep beep beep.

I hurried back and found the clock ringing as usual. The screen showed seven o’clock.

“Please wake up.”

“I’m already awake,” I said, and stopped it.

The clock was quiet for a while.

Then the display changed.

“That helps.”

That night, before going to sleep, I checked the alarm clock.

The alarm was set for seven, as usual.

Small words appeared under the numbers.

“Tomorrow I will wake properly.”

After a moment of thought, I set my phone’s alarm for 6:59, though I almost never let it ring.

Then I placed it beside the alarm clock.