Steam arose from the bubbling pot of water. Willow rubbed her eyes, heavy  and swollen. She'd looked into the mirror a few minutes before and was absolutely disgusted at what she'd seen: the deep, dark bags under her eyes, her eyes red and blotchy- no doubt from the lack of sleep and constant exposure to her phone screen. Her hair was tangled from her hours of tossing and turning in bed, praying for sleep to overcome her. The temptation to surf through the internet some more always overcame her, unfortunately. Her skin was fine, but she worried about what future had in store. She had the slightest nagging feeling that the constant insomnia would come back to bite her in the butt. The eyebags never went away, no matter how many naps she took throughout the day. Maybe early wrinkles were in store for her, she didn't know.

She knew she should have been in dreamland by now. She was already awake, however, so she'd splashed some water in her face to prepare a snack. Now here she was, throwing away the wrapper of her instant ramen Cup O' Noodles. Food found a way to distract her, to relax her. Maybe it would be her solution. It wouldn't hurt to try, right?

Carefully, she placed her hand on the pot handle, raising it up to pour the steaming water into her styrofoam cup. As she poured, some of the water splashed onto her bare hand, and she jumped back, muttering a cuss word. Her hand began to glow a soft red, and she rubbed her wound, reaching for some paper towels to clean up her mess. The spilt water was cleaned in a jiffy, but the ghost of an ache remained on her hand.

She poured the rest, a little more carefully. At least, what was left of the rest. The pot she'd unceremoniously dumped in her startlement had discarded most of its contents. Then, she closed the lid of her cup and sealed it with her fork. Yeah, a weird thing to do, but she did it anyway. It kept the heat in. All that was left now was to wait.

Her apartment was uncomfortably quiet. She was used to sleepless, quiet nights like this, but she usually was looking through her phone, or trying in vain to sleep. Those were distractions from the quiet. Now, she had no distractions, nothing to keep the quiet from settling in. Willow realized that she didn't like it. It was unwelcomed, eerie, and creepy. Had the kitchen light not been on, she would have been frightened. At this point, she dared for a siren to sound in the distance, or the honk of a car, or anything that dared to defy the silence. Nothing happened. Willow was left with the house feeling even emptier than the feeling she felt inside herself.

Half a minute passed, but it felt like half a century. Time went a lot slower when you really sat down and thought about it. Willow, in her nature, grew restless. But as she reached for her phone, the two little pieces of print in the top right hand corner prevented her from even opening the lock screen.

5%.

A sigh escaped her lips. Reluctantly, she had her phone plugged in tout suite, and yet another option escaped her reach. What was left for her to do now? She supposed she could let her thoughts drift her away from reality. She could've used a break like that. What could she think about, though? Many things, she supposed. Like her upcoming exams. All of the assignments due soon. Her online Japanese lessons.

Or maybe even after months and months, finally being able to visit her family for a weekend.

She slumped forward in exhaustion. She could only dream of finally wrapping her arms around her brothers, mother, and father in person, and keep them in that embrace for a while. There was only so much virtual video chats had to offer. Her yearning for her family? There wasn't anything virtual about that.

A small smile made its way on her face. She imagined the sounds of her brothers laughing around the dinner table at some corny joke that Dad cracked, Mom setting the table as she placed the finished pancakes on a plate. They'd be stacked in pairs, the butter melting and the syrup dripping. The warm, fluffy goodness would be packed like a punch in each bite, and she'd jokingly ask for praise on her work. She didn't need any, though. The looks on their faces as they dug in said it all. The feeling of family and meaning opposed that of piercing silence. Here, she felt a sense of camaraderie, a warmth that filled the void that lonliness left inside her heart.

Oh, how she craved a homemade meal like that. She glanced at her ramen. It would sure be better than that...

She shook her head. While her thoughts did distract her, she wasn't sure that it was a good distraction. Perhaps it was better not to open a can of worms. She sure knew that she didn't need it.

She rubbed her eyes some more. In a few moments, her soup would be ready. Until then, what?

She glanced towards the balcony in the living room.

The balcony was her only safehaven throughout her melancholy times. Whenever she felt especially homesick, she made her visits throughout the day to meditate and exercise and such. Even if she wasn't homesick, it was still a great place whenever homework or such other got too heavy. She had a mat spread out, a chair, and a few plants in that tiny corner of solace. Funny how it'd never really occured to her to visit throughout her sleepless nights. She got up and reached for her ramen, then made a beeline to the sliding door. Not before grabbing a pillow from her couch, that is.

Brushing the curtains aside, she opened the door and let the night air take her. Oh, the cool, crisp breeze of the night hit her face, and it felt better than ever. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Sure, it was cold, and she was only clad in pajamas and a thin pair of black ankle socks, but she didn't care. She sat down on her little chair, hugging her pillow and lifting her fork to her mouth. She looked down at the street and ate in silence, letting calm finally settle in.

Sure, cars zoomed by, airplanes flew overhead, sirens wailed and the noises of the city were relentless. This didn't bother her, surprisingly. She felt a little bit of relaxation. This was the distraction she needed- some fresh air, food, and calm to drown out the voices in her head. Oh, they were still there, sure, but at least now a little quieter. The loud thoughts didn't bother her anymore, and it was nice. This was nice.

A few minutes passed.

Her instant ramen was finished soon thereafter, and she sat there, pondering what to do next.

What did she want to do? Simple: sleep.

What is it, however, that she really needed to do?

Another deep breath, and she set down her pillow on her mat. Before she knew it, she was sprawled on her back, and her gaze was to the sky. Up above, the night sky stared right back at her. She couldn't quite tell if a particularly bigger light in the sky was an airplane or a closer star. Raising her arm, she traced little doodles in the sky, a happy face, a cat (or at least she hoped), and a crescent moon. She traced a few words too, like "cool", and "bright", and "beautiful". It was almost as if when she did, the words engrained themselves into the sky itself, and she smiled.

She wrote "I miss you" soon after.

Maybe, if what she thought she saw was right, her words would indeed engrain themselves into the sky and her family could see them from where they were on the world.

Then, she wouldn't have to save up for a single round trip plane ticket to deliver that simple message.

Yes, she'd been hiding what she'd really felt all this time from her family, but how could she dare admit it after all the hard work it had took to get her here? They'd been so supportive after hearing that she'd wanted to attend college on the other side of the country. They probably missed her too, though.

Summer was so close, however. Just a little more to go. All she needed was one last push. Then, she'd get the chance she deserved. The chance to see her family again. The chance to relax. The chance to actually eat real food and not just instant ramen a five-year-old could make. She chuckled. Just one push.

She'd make it. She knew she would.

A few minutes later, she trudged back into her apartment. Throwing her stuff to one side, she finally collapsed on her bed with a groan, only to finally allow herself to be overcome by sleep.