“Even through the amount of rapid exposure we have gained through the Internet, our cause is still very much under the radar. You see, the Internet has helped in other areas. We can now find jobs, have friends, go shopping, even take classes, all because of the Internet. The Internet makes it easy for us to be up at any time of day. No one judges us for our love. Think about it. Before, if we wanted to have a family, get a good job, live a decent social life, we had to adjust. We had to conform. Conform is a better word, don’t you think? It is truer. We had to drop our lifestyle, our way of life, and for what? Because it was the only way we could lead any sort of productive existence, we had no choice but to conform. Sure there were a few professions that allowed us to be us. But those were all lonely jobs. Writers. Painters. Security Guards. They were lonely and dangerous.”
[Interviewer scratches notes in a yellow pad notebook.]
“There isn’t much in the way of medical studies advocating for our cause. There is one man: Dr. Phillip J. Abjectus. He has been studying the human body clock for nearly three decades. He has written many papers on the biases of the nine to five work week. His essay for Modern Science: It’s Popular! on the matter was titled: “Throw Away Your Alarm Clock.” This was our first mainstream breakthrough. The Doctor has made our situation known to thousands, but he is alone in the medical field. No one joins his ranks. The majority of scientists researching our matter are focused on finding a so called “cure.” What we have is a disease to them. They do not remember that there was a time when we were all Noctiphiles. Even you were once a Noctiphile. That is, unless your parents were lucky enough to have a child who naturally adhered to their schedule. Now, you see, we have been trained to abandon the most instinctual of practices, and for what? The praise of light?”
[….]
“We are a minority. Like other groups before us, we are continually outcasted for the simple reason that we are different.”
[….]
“No, I don’t think I am overreacting. That is a stereotype. People say we are emotionally disturbed, socially inept. We are not. It is them who do not understand. We hold onto our innate feeling of wakefulness in the evening. We do not sleep with the others. Maybe it is for this reason that we are discriminated against. There are many of us. Of course, you already know that, because you found me. You found me, but not because you are one of us, but as you said, you know someone who was. Would you like to expound?”
[….]
“Okay. Well, I’ll continue with my explanation. You see us everywhere. Try taking a walk or a bike ride at night. You’ll see us in the privacy of our homes. Sometimes you can see us in our shops, performing daily tasks at night. Do you see the prejudice? Daily. Why not nightly? Even the language fails us.”
[….]
“No, I can’t say Nightly. Nightly denotes an entirely different category of tasks. Colloquially, when we use the term Nightly, we are describing putting the kids to bed, brushing our teeth, locking the doors. I am talking about those of us who perform Daily tasks, checking the mail, working, eating lunch, at night.”
[Interviewee crosses legs.]
“Anyways, as I was saying, we have become more prevalent since the induction of the Internet within our society. For instance, I own an online bookstore. This allows for me to be up at any time of day or night. Whenever my body decides that it is time to work, I am allowed to. My goal or our goals, as I should say, is to make it easy for others to make the transition into a more fluid or natural schedule. We would like to be able to walk the streets without threat of discrimination.”
[….]
“Isn’t it obvious? Simply examine the hours of operation. The bank, grocery stores, doctor offices, candy shops, restaurants. Anything that assumes that people are not supposed to be up at one a.m. These businesses are essentially saying: “If you don’t work a normal work day, then we don’t want your business.” Plus, there is always the implication that if one is out of their house past midnight, then they are nothing more than an alcoholic sex fiend. On top of that, we have to face institutionalized discrimination from law enforcement. I cannot count the number of times I have been questioned by a police officer simply for being up at night. I was committing no crime other than that of being different. Even the television networks feel no mercy for us.”
[….]
“That is correct. Infomercials do run late at night, which explains why most Noctiphiles own gadgets that make microwaving perfect eggs a possibility. Actually before the Internet, this was how many of us did our luxury shopping, with the company of the blonde-haired-wide-smiled infomercial host. Of course, I’m sure you already know all about this. Your friend probably revealed many of these truths to you.”
[….]
“She did, huh? She?”
[….]
“Oh, it’s just that most of the Noctiphiles I meet are men, the self-realized ones anyway. Sometimes I go on chat rooms and find female Noctiphiles, but they are always unaware of their love.”
[….]
“Yes, we can move on.”
[Interviewee uncrosses legs and leans forward.]
“Being a Noctiphile is a terribly lonely state, but contrary to popular belief, I do not think this to be innate to the core of Noctiphiles. Rather, I find that most of us are quite sociable. The only problem is that society has built a social clock that turns within the hours of a standard workday. We are still able to find each other, and we do get together and socialize. You can see us, if you can stand to stay up late at night. We walk through cities and towns. The city is a beautiful place at night. Of course, we believe that everything is more beautiful at night. The cities are my personal favorite. Shops tend to shut down, but you can still find many of us up and about.”
[….]
“No, we are not merely insomniacs. We are more than that.”
[….]
“Yes, I understand that the name is misleading. The thing is, it is our mission is to demonstrate to others the damage they are doing by following a strict schedule. They are disobeying their bodies’ demands. Consider the other demands your body makes over the course of a day. It needs constant relief in the restroom. It often gets hungry. It requires water. All of these demands would be catastrophic if ignored. There are those who skip breakfast, because they are not hungry in the morning. I have seen people who must carry snacks everywhere they go. Yet, these people are not criticized for their bodies’ idiosyncrasies. Now consider those who do not want to wake up in the morning. Their body barely responds to the alarm clock, and they are forced to wear out the snooze button. We can feel our bodies grow tired throughout the day, but we force them to continuously move, and no one questions it.”
[….]
“Sure, the Spanish siesta is one way to deal with the body’s desire to nap throughout the day, but it is a small concession. The siesta still assumes that the body wants to exclusively be awake for daylight hours.”
[….]
“Maybe I am not making myself clear. What we desire is complete freedom from the constraints of an institutionally imposed schedule. Dr. Abjectus has developed the blueprint for an ideal society. Within his society, the world would only be run when people felt like being at work. People would still be required to work, but if someone didn’t want to come into the office until six ‘o clock at night, there would be no problems. People would be more inclined to listen to what their bodies were telling them. This was never truly possible until now. The Internet has made this more of a reality than ever.”
[….]
“Yes, I do look at myself as a revolutionary. I also consider myself a member of a larger movement. I am doing my part, but only as it fits in with the rest of the movement, like your lady friend. I’m sure she was a proponent of our movement. What was her name again?”
[….]
“Are you all right? You seem upset.”
[….]
“Yes, we can continue. Sorry. Right now, our main goal is to simply raise awareness. We want people to know that we are here. It’s similar to the homosexuals coming out of their collective closet. We, as Noctiphiles, would also like to come out of the closet. We have found that much of the population has never considered their daily schedule and therefore, has submitted to the idea of forcing their body into a schedule that is externally imposed. Most people have never thought about us. We want to change that. Hold on, let me get you a tissue.”
[Interviewee gets up and leaves the room, returning a moment later with a tissue for Interviewer.]
“If need be, we can postpone the interview.”
[….]
“Are you certain?”
[Interviewee places hand on Interviewer's knee.]
“Okay. Well, We believe that now is the time to come out of the proverbial closet. We have several reasons for this. One is that never before has our movement been more possible. For thousands of years we were slaves to the Sun, with no choice but to till the fields while natural light was available. And then, Edison invented the light bulb. Being up at night was no longer an orchestrated event, involving the filling of lamps and the wetting of wicks. We had figured out a way to defy the Sun, and we did. Next came the invention of the engine and the rapid rise of industrialization. We were finally free from the binds of Agriculturalism. It was then necessary to be up at many points during the evening. The conductors maneuvering the trains through the dark night. There’s something for you. Think about how much more beauty a train possesses when it is nothing but a roaring beast with a bright white eye that barrels pass, no light but the one with which it leads itself. Now think about a train during the day. It is still a magnificent beast, but it does not hold the same power. The point is, with the shifting of the job market, people began to be needed at all hours, day and night. Thus, room was made for us to be free. Don’t you think you would spend your day differently, if your external schedule allowed for it?”
[….]
“Well yes, that’s a good point, but consider this interview. Would you had come over at nine o’ clock in the evening for an hour long interview, had I given you the option?”
[….]
“Exactly. I’m assuming you would have chosen, what most consider to be, a more reasonable hour.”
[….]
“I’m not sure how I feel about imposing my schedule onto you. On one hand, I may be guilty of the same crime for which I am condemning others. On the other hand, you are interviewing me, therefore it is not unreasonable for me to ask you to adhere to my schedule. This is not an unreasonable hour, is it? I’m afraid that I do not have much consideration for others’ schedules these days, not that I consider that a negative thing but others might. After all, most people don’t have any consideration for my own clock. We could have done the interview via email, which would have allowed both of us to follow our own schedules, but as you put it, it wouldn’t have had the personal effect that in-person interviews hold. I have been told that before. Many have argued that Dr. Abjectus’ world contains less human-to-human interactions. Believe me, those points are valid, but I think there are other angles from which we can look at this. I think one of the problems is that there are not enough of us who are public. You see, we need to come out of the closet. I wouldn’t seem so crazy to you guys, if more people were out of the closet. If you saw how many of us are swept under the rug, you would think differently.”
[….]
“Yes, I have role models, people who I believe are strengthening the movement. I mentioned Dr. Abjectus. He is the main component in our cause. He represented us when he attended round table discussions and debates on issues such as ours. He has since been expelled from the medical stage for his views, but we still use his words as talking points. Like all revolutionaries, he was before his time.”
[….]
“No, it wasn’t his views on the nine to five work week that got him expelled. But rather, what he said at a round table discussion about the natural state of the body clock. Another scientist had made the statement that as humans, we are naturally diurnal, and therefore to begin to suggest that naturally some humans adhere to a separate clock was ridiculous. Dr. Abjectus merely pointed out that this statement seemed preposterous given the state of the homosexuals’ own movement. There is nothing evolutionarily natural about homosexuals, but their case wasn’t about evolution but rather, happiness and impulse. This statement was taken as bigoted, and Dr. Abjectus’ invites to these debates dwindled until his career was nothing more than an obscure footnote. We hope to change that. We don’t believe that Dr. Abjectus intended the statement to be at all discriminatory. There may be nothing natural about our requests, but there is also nothing natural in waking up when somebody else tells you to, simply because everyone else is doing it. Besides, we have grown past the age of evolution as the only basis for laws in society. That notion died with eugenics. Your friend, she just wanted to be happy, correct?”
[….]
“Exactly.”
[A standard house cat walks over to the Interviewee and leaps onto Interviewee's lap.]
“Take for instance this cat. She wants nothing more than to be awake when she wants to be up. Cats are naturally crepuscular, but I often find her up during daylight hours. Actually, it is not unusual to find this particular cat up at any point during a sun cycle.”
[….]
“What was that?”
[….]
“Really? Freud?”
[….]
“I can see that. Most felines live in a constant state of Id. They eat when the mood strikes them. They visit their owners on their terms. And most importantly, they sleep whenever the hell they want. It seems to me that the only part of their demeanor that is affected by their Ego and then regulated by their Super Ego is their ability to go to the bathroom in the litter box. And I’ve been told they do so because of an instinct to bury their waste. Anyways, this all stems from the argument that survival is not the only goal in our lives. Happiness. Happiness is what so many of us are striving for. I just want people to know that they don’t have to conform to the nine to five schedule. There are other options. We are here for them. Did your family have a cat when you were growing up?”
[….]
“You did. Wasn’t she happy?”
[….]
“Oh, sorry. Wasn’t he happy?”
[….]
“Who was your cat’s favorite person? They always seem to have a favorite.”
[….]
“The cat we had while I was growing up loved my mother the most, as well. We always joked that it was because my mother was the one who fed the cat.”
[Cat leaps from Interviewee's lap.]
What’s wrong?”
[Interviewee places a hand on Interviewer's knee.]
[Interviewer begins sobbing.]
“My mother, too. You know what Freud would say about that, huh? Anyways, my mom was the one who taught me that there was more to life than fitting all of your work into a schedule. She was someone we would call a nurturer, the person who shows a Noctiphile their desires. We used to call them revealers, but Dr. Abjectus pointed out that these people only nurture our impulses. They do not reveal them. Anyways, I would often wake in the middle of the night to the sound of my mother vacuuming the den. Once I woke up at three in the morning. I went out to use the bathroom and there was my mother, sitting at the kitchen table. She was smoking a cigarette. My mother never smoked cigarettes, even though, you know, it was more acceptable back then.”
[Interviewer stops writing, listening only to Interviewee.]
“The next day, I asked her about it. I was getting out of our station wagon to go to grammar school. You know what she said?”
[Interviewer sniffles.]
“She said, I do a lot while others sleep. That’s when I knew there was something to staying up while most slept. It was different back then, though. My mother was sort of a revolutionary to me. If it was as difficult as it was for the homosexuals to come out of the closet, think about us Noctiphiles. Even now, we are not accepted. But still my mother did things her way. Even if it meant that she was outcasted for not being up when others expected her to be. We missed a lot of brunches. But my mother did not give up. Her unwillingness to conform eventually led to her and my father’s divorce. She was very dedicated.”
[Interviewer is silent.]
“If you’d like, we could continue at another time. The interview can wait.”
[….]
“Okay. Well, if there was anything I hope the public got from our interview, it would be that they can now make their own schedule. The more people demand this, the more public our movement will be. Never has the time been more perfect.
[….]
Would you like to tell me about your mother?”
[Interviewer is silent.]
/bio: Marcus A. Lund lives in Oakland, CA, where he is attending the MFA program at Mills College. His work has appeared in 34th parallel as well as other magazines. http://www.marcusalund.net
