Still half asleep, he stood up relieved. His leather chair made that sound, like a balloon being rubbed in a long tunnel. Leather chairs suffocate when you sit in them. As the cushions filled up with life, he was halfway down the hall, running his fingers along the wall.

Go make pees and poos before beddy time

He’d been living a hard life for the past few months. Doing battle with the family patriarch took its toll on this young lion, turning his mane gray. He’d been drinking more than usual too. You can tell someone is not yet an alcoholic if they leave half-full drinks laying around. And there, on the back of the toilet, rattled a forgotten bourbon seven.

As he stood to jiggle and pray he wouldn’t have to remove the tank lid, his perceptions, the hairs on the back of his neck, sensed something wrong. And there it was, that drink on the back of the toilet.

He’d been asleep for at least two hours. Yet the highball held fresh ice. House now cold, he prowled out of the bathroom, suddenly very much awake.