Sigh.
Followed by the flushing sound of the WC.
"Yao Yao, come out now before you fall asleep in there!" Lin Shuying's voice tore through the air like a blaring alarm.
Bai Xue Yao jerked up the moment she heard her mother's voice. Her drowsy eyes fluttered open. "I'm only cleaning up, I'm not sleeping!" Bai Xue Yao shouted in reply.
"I only wanted to close my eyes for two seconds, yet this woman has a way of disturbing me at that particular moment." She muttered under her breath. Her eyes fluttered slowly like butterfly wings, her soft pink lips pulling into a pout.
'Just for one second, only for one second.' She thought inwardly as she fluttered her eyes closed.
"I don't believe you! Come out now! Or else I will come in there and pull you out myself!" Lin Shuying's voice rang again through the air like a bell.
Bai Xue Yao jerked up again. Her eyes narrowed as she angrily stood up from the toilet seat. Wiping aggressively before flushing again.
She pulled her pants up, walking past the mirror hanging on the wall. She slowly walked backward, stopping in front of the mirror.
"Ahhhhhhhhh!" Bai Xue Yao's scream tore through the roof of the building, rattling the house like an earthquake.
Staring back at her was a girl with black eyes like those in the Incredibles. Her black shoulder-length hair fell over her face like a night ghost.
Before she could process her thoughts, the door burst open with a defending noise.
"What is it!" Lin Shueying shouted.
"Oh, my precious daughter!" Bai Zhen Guo's voice followed.
"Is Yao Yao dead?" Bai Jun Yi's interlapped with Zhen Guo's.
"Yao Yao is dead!" Bai Chen shouted dramatically, holding his head as if he couldn't bear the pain.
"Move!" Bai Ling Yue pushed Jun Yi and Chen aside so she could peek through the space between their mother and Father.
Bai Xue Yao snapped her head to the door only to see her entire family trying to pass through the door at once.
Her body was holding a spatula and her father wasn't even wearing his trousers. And her three siblings were stretching their necks, their eyes widening in curiosity and there was no trace of worry in their eyes like in their parents.
On a second look, Bai Xue Yao could see how much resemblance they had to the Incredibles. 'Family of panda eyes.' She grimaced inwardly.
"What are you all doing here! And… can't you knock!" Bai Xue Yao screeched.
Lin Shu Ying, who had almost had a heart attack at the thought that her daughter had fallen asleep, walked forward towards her.
"Mom, what? Why are you looking at me like that?" Bai Xue Yao asked in a small voice, seeing her mother's expression mixed with concern and anger.
Before she could figure out her mother's expression, the spatula in Lin Shuying's hands landed on her head with a dull sound.
"Owww!!! Mom!!!" Bai Xue Yao shouted in pain.
"Do you want to kill me before my time?!" Lin Shuying hit her upper arm with the spatula again:
"Ahhh!"
"Honey, honey…" Zhen Guo quickly held Lin Shuying's hand, soothing her back with one of his hands. "Honey, you know how mischievous Yao Yao is, but no matter how much she loves to sleep we both know she wouldn't dare to." He kept on soothing while winking at Bai Xue Yao to make her grand escape.
Zhen Guo placed himself between them, blocking Lin Shuying's view. "Don't be mad honey, the money to buy the do-not-sleep watch is almost complete, so we don't have to worry about that sleepy head."
Bai Xue Yao wanted to voice her grievance but knowing how her mother was, it was best she zipped her lips and escaped for her life before she turned on her samurai mode.
Bai Xue Yao ran out of the room, rushing past her sibling who stood at the entrance door with a disappointing look.
"I thought we would finally be a family of five." Bai Chen said with a teasing smile.
Bai Xue Yao stopped midway, she walked towards him and smacked his head. "If anyone is leaving this family, it has to be you. Dumbhead." She said venting all her anger on him.
"At least I'm not that dumb to sleep when I know it will be my last. But you sleepy head doesn't know any better." Bai Chen scoffed, puffing his chest out in anger.
"You… I will kill you today!" Bai Xue Yao yelled as she jumped up, pulling Bai Chen's hair.
"Stop, stop pulling my hair… else I will throw your seniority out of the window, and give a beating you will never forget." Bai Chen shouted, holding Bai Xue Yao's hands.
"You wouldn't dare!" She replied.
Bai Ling Yue shook her head in disappointment. This was the exact reason she was always ashamed to introduce them as her siblings.
Bai Jun Yi sighed, massaging his temple as he made his way to the dining room.
"Let go of my hair!" Bai Chen yelled, his last restraint almost snapping.
"Do you dare talk to me like that again!" Bai Xue Yao said heaving heavily. The jump she made early wasn't an easy feat considering she hadn't slept for days now.
Before Bai Chen could respond, Lin Shuying appeared behind them smacking their heads with the spatula.
"Let go of each other now!" Lin Shuying shouted, giving Bai Xue Yao an extra hit.
Xue Yao let go of Bai Chen's hair, stamping her feet on the ground angrily. "Why do you hit me two times and only hit Chen'er once, this is so unfair!" She said rubbing her head while frowning in pain.
"So unfair!" Lin Shuying grabbed Xue Yao by her ear, walking towards the dining room.
"Mom, it hurts, mom…" She tapped on her mom's hand, grimacing.
Zhen Guo walked behind them with worry marred on his face. He had managed to save her once, he wasn't sure he had an extra life to meddle again.
"This is what you get for hurting me." Bai Chen said, pushing out his chest. His eyes immediately widened in horror when he felt Lin Shuying's hand around his ear.
They both cried as they followed Lin Shuying to the dining room, while hitting each other behind her back.
Their steps faltered when they heard the voices coming from the TV.
"Sadly, we are losing more people around the world to the sleeping curse. Many people have died the moment they closed their eyes, children, men, and women. The government is still researching how to combat this problem.
But another is arising, as the people who are awake are now showing signs of mental disorientation. This means they pose a threat to society, some of them ended up killing themselves in horrible ways while others had gone on a killing spree.
Everyone do not sleep, but do not lose your sanity either. Good morning to everyone."