Try Counting Sheep

This is a short story I wrote for my creative writing class. I was just typing it up for class and thought maybe I'd just post it and see what everyone thought:

“Have you ever actually tried to count sheep before?” She asked without looking up, her eyes were focused on the swirls of milk that she was slowly mixing into her coffee. When all she got in response was a snort of air through the nose of her companion, she forced her attention away from her cup and upward. Raised brows and a bemused look met her gaze. “What?” When that question failed to get more then a role of his eyes she sat back in her seat her arms crossing over her stomach as she grew defensive. “I was serious, have you ever actually tried to count sheep before?” She couldn’t keep the annoyance she was feeling out of her voice.

Without any desire to provoke her any further, he decided to amuse her in this turn of conversation. His eyes took on a more playful gleam despite the seriousness that reflected her green orbs, “No, I can’t say that I have. But why do you ask?”

She resisted the urge to copy his previous motion of rolling eyes and settled on a simple sigh. Her arms dropped so that her hands could meet on her lap in a nervous clasp, “I would think that only those who haven’t tried the farm-animal method would suggest it to others.” This statement seemed to have caught his real interest. He too reclined back further into his café chair, bringing his cup of whatever with him. He couldn’t hide the amusement or interest from his voice when he posed his next question, “Why, may I ask, is that? I’ve always heard that counting sheep was the perfect way to solve insomnia.”

She first glanced upwards to the umbrella that shaded them from the early summer sun and then down to her hands that still nervously clasped each other-it seemed her coffee was now forgotten. When she finally did answer it was the glass table top she stared at, not him, “You have no idea how hard it is to count sheep.”

The earnestness in her voice was the only thing that kept him from laughing outright at such an absurd statement. Instead, he let his confused silence urge her on, his curiosity obviously getting the better of him.

She seemed swept away by her own thoughts when she continued to talk, oblivious to him, her coffee that was growing steadily cold, and the rest of the café. “You see, at first it’s all okay. One sheep at a time comes out and jumps over this little fence that you’ve created in your mind. It’s not really the most soothing thing in the world but it keeps your mind off other things. And then,” she paused as if trying to grasp for a word or feeling that was eluding her, “and then it all just goes so wrong.” Her fingers were now clinging at the light cloth of her pants. “The sheep start coming faster and faster! They even start jumping the fence in groups and eventually there’s just so many they just run right through the fence! Of course by that point you’ve lost count quite some time ago. All of the sudden this relaxing exercise has become this maddening stampede of fuzzy sheep just running through your mind.” She stopped then to catch her breath, a glance around telling her that she had been a bit louder then she had intended to be. Her gaze traveled last to her companion, her cheeks burning a bright red.

He was bewildered beyond words- simply shocked into silence by her passionate monologue. However, she thought he was waiting for her to continue and took the silent hint. She spoke quieter as not to draw any more unneeded attention her way, “After trying the sheep thing a few more times without success I decided to try other animals- slower, bigger ones.”

“And how did that work out?” He couldn’t believe he just asked that-just participated in this crazy flight of fancy. And so calmly as well! As if this whole thing was not just some big joke, oh he certainly hoped it was.

“Not to good,” was her nonchalant response. “Turns out that even whales can travel in packs and knock down fences,” she nodded sagely at her own statement in all seriousness.

“Whales?” He cocked a brow once more in her direction.

“Yes, whales,” she answered as if it were the simplest and most obvious thing in the whole world. Her posture had become more relaxed by this time, her pants saved from any more pulling and nervous twisting.

“Whales on land?” At her nod of confirmation he finished his questioning, “Whales on land jumping over wooden fences?” When she confirmed his image once again with a node he just nodded in return, raised his drink to his lips and took a sip.