Couldn’t sleep last night.

Rather than toss and turn in bed I decided to go for a swim. It’s always calmed me in the past, and the canals aren’t too far from home.
A quick tram ride later, I’m at a small shopping district where I normally get my groceries. The night scene is almost as active as it is during the day, thanks to all the nocturnal species that live here. What’s neat, though, is that not only did city planners consider nocturnals in the design, but aquatics, too. The canals are technically meant to regulate the flow of the city’s river network, but they’re designed with aquatics in mind, knowing that critters like me are gonna use them… which I did.

I dove in shortly after reaching the water’s edge. The water felt great. Just the right temperature and everything!
There wasn’t much of a current, but it didn’t matter. I wasn’t here with a destination in mind, other than “water.” Swimming is the only time I feel I could ever truly achieve the feeling of flying. I breached the surface and dove back down, twisting launching myself off the canal’s sidewall. Though the depth averaged around eight or nine feet, it was enough space to allow me to maneuver around without hitting anything.
Or anyone, as I passed a trio of seals moving the other way. We regarded each other with friendly nods before continuing on.

After a few minutes diving and weaving, I finally surfaced and lay back in the water to catch my breath, staring up at the stars beyond the city buildings as I floated on. I never had a water bed, though I hear some aquatics take a liking to them for obvious reasons. I doubt I could ever spring for one myself, as I’m not sure if my mates would take to it like I would.
I took a few deep breaths to center myself in the water. This was calming, finally. Relaxing, even. I admit in the past I’d caught myself napping in the canals on more than one occasion, and I certainly wasn’t the only New Atlantean citizen who has done so, but despite my restlessness fading I wasn’t quite ready to turn in yet.

After a few more minutes of just floating there, I heard a voice, “Couldn’t sleep either, huh?”
I blinked and saw a familiar rabbit girl smiling down at me from the banks. Orchid. I grinned and whipped my tail sideways to steer toward the banks’ steps. I climbed out and Orchid gave me some space as I shook some of the water from my fur. “How did you know I was here?” I asked.
She pointed to one of the pouches strapped to her thigh. “Was out buying some materials for poultices and I caught your scent. Figured you might want some company.”
I didn’t realize it until then but yeah… I did.

We headed for a nearby park and strolled along. I don’t remember what we chatted about, but it didn’t matter. She’s always had a way with calming my ever-active mind. We sat down at the foot of a large tree and watched the lights of the city in the distance beyond the canopy. From here it was hard to tell where the canopy ended and the city continued, mainly because parts of that district actually had a tree canopy amidst the buildings.
Now that I had company, insomnia did not seem as daunting. We cuddled there together for… I don’t know how long. Enough for me to fall asleep since I apparently woke up when the distant sky was just beginning to lighten a bit.



This stream-of-consciousness story was brought to you by last night’s actual bout with insomnia as I tried to calm my aforementioned ever-active mind down with a relaxing self-insertion in the city of my dreams. It kind of worked, I think.