I used to do sleepovers at my favorite aunt's place. It was meant to forge a bond between us cousins since we are quite few in the family. We did bond - me and my favorite aunt's son over console games and summer sports clinics. I also bonded with Tita Beauty's eldest daughter Ika who opened my world to playing with Barbie and Ken. You see, two families with kids share a big house with all the perks I can never enjoy at home. Good corned beef sandwiches, good VHS Disney movies, quiet neighborhood with lots of open spaces just beyond the houses across the street. All these were the things I look forward to when I spent the weekends with my relatives. My parents approved the set-up at the beginning, but my dad became more annoyed the longer I stayed out of the house every school vacation.
However, I was raised a nocturnal person. Mom sleeps at past midnight. Dad used to start his day just before twilight. We all get up late in the morning and this habit clashed with the hosts who happen to sleep past nine. Save for Ika who is also nocturnal. We would talk about our juvenile interests and read books until it was way past midnight or until one of us called it a night.
The accommodation didn't go well with my favorite aunt's son, who preferred me sleeping in their room rather than with my other cousin. The problem was, I would lie still for hours. awake inside a dark, cold place while both him and his mother were sound asleep. Badtrip. But that was how life was. When pressing needs required me to stay at home more often, (actually, the favorite aunt must have gotten tired of my presence, she gave her son's old SEGA console to me) the sleepovers finally ceased.
Years went by and as I gained more awareness of the things I could enjoy at home, (like neighborhood fuck buddies, porn cartoons on television, and Sonic the Hedgehog on SEGA) I dropped the idea of staying over elsewhere - even for a hang-out. I became so accustomed to my own territory that I feel a little unease when stepping over someone's realm.
I still do sleepovers out of convenience. But to slumber peacefully and without interruption, I bring with me the most obvious object that would serve as a reminder that though my body lies somewhere, my thoughts still embrace the memory of home.
My blanket.