..Ugh Simon awoke with a jolt, as he did every night.

He
screwed his face in to a tight ball, denying life, taking a lone
stand against insomnia. Yet when he finally plucked up the
courage to open his eyes, he realised that there was a single,
piercing ray of sunlight penetrating the slightest gap in the
curtains, casting a ghostly shadow on the unplastered party
wall. It couldnt be morning. There had to be a far less rational
explanation for this brilliant intrusion; a rogue street light, an
accidental reflection, a passing alien with a penchant for laser
pens. But as his muscles gradually relaxed and his expression
bore less resemblance to a gurn, he squeezed his eyes open
just a crack and realised that it was late, or so it appeared. How
late? His dark brown wall clock told him that it was, in fact,
extremely late. His fleeting surprise turned to blind panic in a
split second; it was extremely late. Leaping out of bed as if
stung by an enormous bee, he flung himself downstairs and out
of the door inside a whirlwind of clothes, limbs and tardiness.