salted caramel hot chocolate // (mid)night rambles

a mug sits in front of me, radiating a warmth that i can feel even a foot away. from it, i'm enveloped in the scent of salted caramel. it was the only hot chocolate mix we had in the apartment. not my first choice, but it'll do.

3:59 am, awake since far too long ago (because i couldn't sleep last night, either). my eyes are heavy and i can feel the dreariness pull at the edges of my eyelashes. tugging down, down, not quite far enough down.

in the back of my mind i know that every new minute spent sitting at my desk means a minute i'll lose tomorrow, when i finally slow pace and the sluggishness of my brain catches up. when at 3:59 pm it draws me to rest, even as i tell myself that my nocturnal tendencies will only get worse. i know that i could just leave the hot chocolate to cool on the counter, force myself to crawl into bed now and count sheep and hope that this time it actually works. but i'm nocturnal for a reason. i sleep much better when the sun is high in the sky.

i don't think i like the smell of salted caramel very much. i don't think i like the taste much, either. but the hot chocolate has already been made, and i can still feel its warmth. and maybe i like the idea of letting it waste even less.