In Plain Sight: The Run

The elevator door creaked open to reveal a dimly lit corridor. Colin ambled towards room 505, considerably burdened by the grocery bags he was carrying on both hands. He put one bag down, fumbled with his keys for a few seconds before unlocking the door to his apartment.

After setting the bags on the tiny kitchen island, he made his way to the sofa, lay down and sighed in relief. Peace and quiet at last. He needed that after a hectic day at work.

It had been four months after his trip to Goyle's Retreat nudist camp with Carla, his best friend's sister, whose parents also happened to be his long-term next-door neighbours. During that time, he had finally managed to find himself his own place in the city that was a lot closer to work. The first month was incredibly exciting, probably the best time of his adult life.

Much of that had to do with Carla.

He recalled all the moments he had spent with the young woman in his apartment, exploring each other, having the best sex of his life and watching movies together without a care in the world.

Unfortunately, the time had then come for her to leave for university again and the last three months had been monotonous, uneventful and maybe a little too quiet even for him. He was stuck in a perpetual loop of early morning runs followed by work, then coming home and going to bed. He had thrown himself into work during that time, earning a lot of plaudits from the suits above him, but he found that he couldn't really bring himself to care.

Suddenly, he was awakened from his thoughts by the telltale sound of his phone vibrating. One look at the screen told him that it was a message from the subject of his thoughts.

'Hey, are you busy? Give me a video call when you're free?'

He didn't need any further invitation, as he fired up his laptop that was lying on the coffee table and opened the video call app. It took just a couple of rings for Carla to answer.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, her dazzling smile looming over the screen.

"Hello there, I was just thinking about you," Colin responded, feeling the sense of contentment washing over him whenever he caught a rare glimpse of her these days. "What's up?"

It was only when she moved away from the camera that he realised that she was topless.

"Yeah, you told me that you're taking some days off in two weeks," she said with her back to him as she fumbled with something in her closet.

"That's right," Colin replied, peering at the screen. Her lighting wasn't great.

"I was wondering if you're up for a race. A 5K," she said, finally turning around, sitting cross-legged on her bed and pulling her laptop towards her.

Colin noticed that she was donning just a pair of beige panties, her pert little breasts pointing towards the camera. His cock twitched.

"What sort of race? Is it timed?" He asked.

"No, it's just something that the students are organising. We're trying to raise some money for charity and trying to get the town involved. It's not a serious race."

"Well," Colin said, "I would love to go up there just to see you."

"So is that a yes?" Carla asked, her face hopeful.

"It's a definite yes," Colin replied. He couldn't help but smile.

"Yay! I'll text you the itinerary."

***

And so, Colin spent the next two weeks impatiently counting down his upcoming trip to Granville. He signed off from work and went home after taking a detour at the barber's, not bothering with grocery shopping despite it being a Friday afternoon. He could just eat something at the airport.

At home, he decided to engage in a bit of manscaping. He decided that he would make himself look presentable for Carla. She hadn't appeared to be the least bit bothered by his unkempt body hair, but he thought that it wouldn't hurt to look a bit neater. That way, she would know that he had been taking care of himself even while she was away.

He took out his trusty trimmer and trimmed his thick chest hair, his torso, underarms and his pubes, and checked out the result in front of the full-length mirror in his bedroom.

Not bad, he thought. He had trimmed just enough to look neat and tidy, but had opted against giving himself too close a trim. He often got the impression that Carla liked hair on a man, particularly when she clung on to his chest hair while riding him.

After getting dressed, he packed a few sets of clothes and his running gear, and drove to the airport, where he bought himself an overpriced dinner and waited for his flight.

On my way, he texted Carla. Can't wait to see you tomorrow.

***

He had gone out cold inside the cheap hotel at Granville as soon as his head hit the pillow, and he woke up feeling somewhat refreshed.

The race was supposed to be on Sunday afternoon, and the plan was to spend Saturday with Carla.

He reached out for his phone and checked the time.

7:57. Eight hours of sleep, not bad.

He cleaned up and made his way over to the university campus, where he was supposed to meet Carla at a cafe.

After making his way inside, he was nursing a cup of coffee when she snuck up behind him and covered his eyes.

"Guess who?" she breathed into his ear. Smiling, Colin stood up and hugged her tightly before giving her a quick peck on the lips. He noticed that many of the patrons in the cafe were students around her age, and wasn't entirely sure if she would be comfortable with public displays of affection with someone who looked considerably older.

They played catch up over breakfast, before switching the conversation to the big event.

"So then, what's this run all about? You mentioned it's organised by the students?" Colin asked.

"Yes it is, and we're hoping to kickstart a tradition, you know? Like an annual thing. Most of the town folk are here at this time of the year and we thought we should have something that puts the uni and town on the map, so to speak," Carla said.

"Then this needs to be something big," Colin said.

"Oh we know, we thought long and hard about it," Carla replied. "That's how we came up with the concept of a naked 5K."

There was silence for a couple of seconds.

"Say what?" Colin asked. He was sure that he had misheard a word there.

"It's a nude run, you know, like the one they used to do at Ann Arbor's before it all stopped?"

Colin rubbed his hands on his face.

"And you expect me to run this naked?"

"Well, it's not like you haven't been naked in front of strangers before," Carla said coyly.

Colin spluttered.

"Yeah at a nudist resort! It's completely different!"

"How is it different?"

"Well you're expected to be nude there. I can't go naked in public! Is this even legal?"

Carla laughed.

"Relax, will you? We managed to get all the permits and everything. The city is going to look after security and keep the roads closed for us runners. Everyone's been really cool, actually. I think deep down we all want to see people taking notice of Granville for once."

Colin mulled it over. Surely there was no obligation for him to run starkers on the street?

"But it's cold out there!" he exclaimed.

"It sure is," Carla said with a mischievous glint in her eye. "That's part of the fun."

"Will you be running as well?" Colin asked.

"Of course. I was hoping that we could run together all the way."

***

After that meeting, Carla took him on a tour of her campus, showing him her favourite spots while chitchatting. Even though they had planned to hang out for the rest of the day, she got whisked away by the Students Union, who were organising the whole event. Being an important member of their organizing committee, she apologised profusely to Colin, promising to meet up with him again in the afternoon.

Feeling slightly disappointed, Colin decided to walk around the town. It was a pretty little place, he surmised, and wondered why it wasn't talked about more. There was a lot of greenery, parks and quite a lot of traffic-free streets where he could stroll about without worrying about getting run over by an SUV. He saw that city officials had already started to tape off certain sections of their streets and felt a jolt as he remembered that he would be out naked right on these very spots at this time tomorrow.

He also wondered how on earth he could possibly run naked in weather like this. He was already dressed up in layers, but his fingers were numb under his gloves.

He had also given it a lot of thought. He could run naked, because it wouldn't matter who sees him; he was a stranger in a new town. No one would remember him after the event, and surely he wouldn't run into someone he knew. The thought calmed him a bit.

Plus, he would be running with Carla, and that alone cheered him up.

Later in the afternoon, it was already getting dark when Carla met up with him and they decided to have an early dinner at a nice little restaurant. They engaged in a game of snooker with a group of students and eventually bade each other goodnight, as Carla had to get back to her dorm before curfew.

Again, Colin was a bit disappointed as he was looking forward to spending the night with her at the hotel. But hey, tomorrow was her last day of term and he could take her wherever they pleased.

***

The next afternoon, Colin felt an uncomfortable knot in his stomach. This was yet another day when Carla would be easing him into doing something he would not have imagined doing on his own. First the nudist camp, now this? This girl was something else.

"Did you pack your running clothes for this?" Carla asked teasingly. She had come to meet up with him just outside the hotel.

"Of course I did, you failed to mention the most important factor in all of this," Colin replied. "And not for the first time," he added in mock indignation.

Carla giggled.

"Anyway, we're really close to the starting line. We can just walk there and then get ready," she said.

"Do we... wear clothes to the starting line?" Colin asked, almost dreading the answer.

"Yeah. There's a tent there to keep our clothes and stuff."

Colin sighed internally. Even though he knew what he was getting himself into, it was a relief knowing that he was at least going to get some time to mentally prepare himself.

And so they walked, side by side to the venue. There was a buzz of activity around the sight, with throngs of people dressed up in layers chatting excitedly. Surely there weren't this many people in the town yesterday?

"There, that's the tent," Carla said, pointing a gloved finger at a sizable marquee tent that had been set up just outside the cafe where they had had breakfast the day before.

They made their way inside, and it was jam packed with people. Lockers had been set up around the walls of the tent, each one labelled with the race bib number.

"You can just keep your stuff in my locker," Carla said, reading his mind.

Colin looked around and observed that some people were already naked. Most of them looked like they were in their early to mid-twenties. He suddenly couldn't help but feel a bit old and out of place.

"Come on then, let's get ready," Carla said.

Without hesitation, she took off her jacket, a sweater, her jeans and shoes, before unclasping her bra and pulling off her panties to go completely naked. Well, except her gloves. She then proceeded to take out her running shoes from her bag.

"What are you waiting for?" she asked Colin while putting on her shoes. Colin realised that he had been watching her, transfixed. Her confidence was something else, alright.

He undressed as well, and like Carla, decided to keep his gloves on. After some thought, he decided to don a beanie.

"Good idea," Carla said, and followed suit.

Just as they dumped their belongings into Carla's locker, someone called out her name.

"Hey, you're ready to go Carla?"

Colin turned around and his stomach swooped. It was Patricia, Carla's friend and one of the girls on her swimming team back in high school. He often saw her around Carla's parent's place when he hung out there with her brother Rob. He had met her mom recently, who was the owner of Goyle's Retreat nudist resort.

So much for not being recognised in this town.

"Yeah I am, as you can see," Carla responded, doing a cute little pirouette to show that she was, indeed, naked and ready to go.

Patricia turned towards Colin, and he saw the look of surprise flash flash on her face before her eyes did a head-to-toe scan of his body. The whole ordeal took a fraction of a second, but he couldn't miss it.

"You remember Colin, Pat?" Carla asked her.

Patricia seemed a bit flustered, so Colin decided to chip in.

"I remember you very well. I heard you went up to New York?" He asked, recalling a conversation with her mother.

"Yes, that's right," Patricia said, seemingly regaining her composure. "Carla invited me down here and I wasn't going to miss this."

"Same here," Colin said.

As it were, Patricia was going to run with the two of them, and promised to join them at the starting point before quickly running over to another group of people who were waving at her.

Patricia was considerably taller than Carla, pretty much as tall as Colin. Like Carla, she had a swimmer's physique, but it was clear that she had been skimping on her exercise since her high school days. Her curvy figure from her wide hips, the telltale sign of the beginning of love handles, and her breasts all made her look very similar to her mom. Like her mom and Carla, she was completely shaven down there. When she ran over to her friends, her butt jiggled just like her mom's.

Colin stifled a grin.

"Come on, let's go and direct runners to the tent," Carla said.

They both walked out of the tent and oh God, the cold hit him like a freight train. It was truly bizarre to feel the cold air on his bare skin and he felt his bits pucker up like raisins. At least he wouldn't need to worry about getting a hard-on, he thought. Thankfully, it wasn't windy.

Unbeknownst to him though, the day was going to go into unexpected places.

It seemed that none of the other runners had gotten outside yet, because the crowds gaped at both of them as soon as they started walking.

"I think that group of people over there are runners, see?" Carla said, pointing at a rather lost and anxious looking group of five who were looking around. And without further ado, she started walking towards them. Colin followed her, feeling extremely self-conscious. He felt, rather than heard people pointing at him, talking about him, laughing at him. Or was it just him being paranoid? In any case, he avoided making eye contact with other people for now.

Carla on the other hand, seemed to possess absolutely no shred of self-consciousness. He couldn't help but glance at her butt as she walked in front of him. People openly stared at her bare body, and who could blame them? Her magnificent, lithe swimmer's figure, her toned abs, ten-out-of-ten ass, and pert breasts with nipples that stood at attention; take your pick. Perhaps it was the cold, or maybe it was because she was enjoying all the attention, but her nipples were absolutely rock hard today.

How did he get so lucky?

"Excuse me, are you guys participants?" Colin was awakened from his musings by Carla's voice.

"Oh, er- yes," one of the guys from the group responded. "We're looking for the starting point."

The group, which had three guys and two girls, stared wide-eyed at the two of them as they spoke, perhaps suddenly realising that they too were about to get just as naked soon.

"See that tent over there?" Carla said, pointing towards the marquee, and explained how to keep their stuff safe. They thanked them and left.

The two of them walked amongst the crowd, searching for any more people who looked like they needed help, before Colin looked at his watch and suggested they make their way to the starting point.

When they walked there, they found themselves in a sea of naked people. Colin couldn't help but find the whole thing bizarre. He had been at a nudist camp only months ago, but he had spent time there with only a handful of people.

He observed the crowd while he and Carla weaved their way to the front, where they had agreed to meet Patricia earlier. There were all sorts of naked bodies on display; tall, short, athletic to chubby to pudgy, black, white and brown skins.

He noticed that pretty much all the girls had shaved their pussies, perhaps specifically for this event. He had, of course, seen photos from the old Ann Arbor's Naked Mile Run and noticed that many girls from that era sported full muffs. How times change.

The vast majority of the participants were clearly college students, but there were a few older folk as well.

He asked Carla about it and she explained that participation was actually opened for the whole town, but that only a handful of residents registered for the race. She was optimistic about more residents signing up next year after witnessing the success of the first race.

As they moved to the front, they met up with Patricia again. She wasn't wearing anything except her shoes, and Colin wondered if she was one of those people who just didn't feel the cold. He leaned over to her and shouted out his question over the din of the crowds.

"You're incredibly brave for not wearing gloves," he yelled.

Patricia laughed.

"I live in New York now, remember?"

Colin could, however, see that the cold was having an effect on her. There were goosebumps on her arms, and her nipples stood out hard and proud.

There was an MC, fully clothed it must be said, running about with a mic, yelling over the sound of the crowds and music from speakers that seemed to go right through Colin.

"Hello Granville! I would like to welcome you all to the first ever Granville Nude 5K!"

There were loud cheers from everyone.

"Let's give a huge applause to our race participants." More cheers.

"You're all so incredibly brave for coming out here, naked as the day you were born, in this cold for this momentous occasion. Now, I would like to remind you all a few things. Firstly, we will have first aid stations located at regular intervals at the race course. Please make way for the medics if anything happens. Next, please be respectful towards each other. Consent is the key word, and I would like to urge everyone to avoid doing anything that may be considered disrespectful without prior consent from all parties."

"The race course will be marked clearly, and we have volunteers placed at various points to direct all racers. Racers, please be aware that you may have to run through a bit of mud at St. Joseph's Park, so please mind your footing."

"And most importantly, I would like to remind everyone to have some fun. Let's start something special today!"

The cheers were deafening, and Colin was suddenly hoping that the race would start sooner rather than later as he was starting to get really, really cold.

"Racers, on your marks, get set... GO!"

The race gun went off, and Colin felt himself being pushed forward by the bodies behind him. Carla and Patricia whooped and they were off.

The first half of the race was, dare he say it, actually fun. He felt his runner's muscle memory kick in and he got into the groove. Of course, he wasn't actually treating this as a regular exercise session, and he chatted along with Carla and Patricia, laughed at some of the signs that the crowd were carrying, high-fived some of the audience and even yelled out responses to their comments.

"What's your number??" One brave middle-aged lady called out to him, and she got slapped by her red-faced friend. Colin and Carla laughed.

At around the halfway mark, Patricia ran out of steam and they decided to slow down and let her catch her breath.

"Hey mister, can we take a photo with you?"

Colin turned around and there were a group of girls, probably high schoolers, gesturing towards him. He turned to Carla.

"Is that okay?" He asked. He hadn't quite read the rulebook from cover to cover.

"Only if you are."

One of the girls gave her camera to Carla, and Colin posed in the middle of the group, who all giggled as they accidentally touched his bare skin. Once done, they thanked him, a couple of them took the opportunity to take a good look at his cock, then Carla returned the camera and off they went again.

They ran and walked through the streets, and then made a sharp turn at one point to get into what Colin assumed was St. Joseph's Park. And the ground wasn't too bad. There was mud, but nothing too dangerous, and he enjoyed the fresh, crispy air. After getting out of the park, they made a U-turn and ran back into the streets of the town.

Colin, now feeling a lot bolder, waved at some of the crowd. He enjoyed seeing the contrasting emotions of the audience. Some of the older women just laughed or smiled, the middle-aged ones were the most boisterous. The younger girls either covered their mouths in astonishment or blushed when he winked at them.

The men, of course, had their eyes on Carla. Some ogled her, a few asked her to take photos with them, to which she happily obliged. Colin loved her confidence; she made absolutely no effort, nor felt the need to cover herself subconsciously or otherwise. Some of the younger men stared at her in astonishment; it was clear that some folk in this town had never seen such a fine specimen in their lives.

Now that he was sufficiently warmed up from the running, he found that he was feeling a bit... bolder? Friskier? Whatever it was, the atmosphere of the event, all the strangers staring at him and Carla, was having a peculiar effect on him.

Here he was, an outsider, someone none of the town folk had seen before, suddenly appearing in their town completely naked. They knew what he looked like, all of him. His intimate parts were out there for them to see and enjoy, and he liked that thought very much. He wondered if any of the women and girls would later look at the photos they had taken with him and check out his body properly. He wondered if they would like the look of his cock.

These thoughts, as it turned out, were making him grow hard. Soon enough, his cock jutted out in front, almost like it was guiding him to the finish line. A few more steps later, he was fully hard and throbbing, and his cock stood like the Empire State Building.

This had another effect on the crowd. Whereas before, they were yelling out words of encouragement, now there were gasps and squeals. He saw from the corner of his eye, a young woman covering her mouth with both hands, staring at his cock with wide eyes and bouncing on the spot in delight.

"You're making a lot of people happy," Carla commented, looking down at his cock as well. She was grinning like the Cheshire cat.

"I feel pretty happy as well," he responded.

"Yeah I can see that."

A few minutes later, they reached the finish line. The crowd cheered non-stop, and the pair of them weaved past the throngs of runners who had already finished. They waited at a spot that was relatively free of people so that they would be able to spot Patricia, who had decided to walk the last part of the race, when she would eventually cross the finish line.

Still, the adrenaline wasn't helping matters for Colin's cock, but he felt no need to hide it. No one seemed to mind, and he was feeling a unique sort of thrill showing it off.

At last, they saw Patricia finishing the race with a rather large group of walkers, her arms stretched out as wide as her smile as though she had just finished the Boston Marathon itself. She spotted Carla waving at her, and made her way towards them.

"Wow!" she exclaimed, beaming at her friend. They hugged, and she turned to Colin, who high-fived her. And then she noticed his cock.

"Woah!" she exclaimed again, her eyes wide as saucers.

She slowly turned her disbelieving face at Carla, and the two burst out laughing.

"You're full of surprises, aren't you?" Patricia said to Colin, before her eyes dropped back to his cock, which twitched from the attention.

"Oh you have no idea," Carla said coyly, before reaching out and discreetly giving his cock a very brief pull. Colin bit back a surprised moan.

Honestly, he thought that he was treading on some sort of invisible line by walking around with a full-on boner on display, but cumming in public might actually get him in trouble. And he was getting closer by the minute.

He decided he didn't want to find out.

"Carla," he said to her ear. "Let's get to the hotel."

"Now?" she asked. "We still have the afterparty."

"Yeah we can come back. Just... I need to go now." He hoped that she understood his reference.

She glanced back down at his cock. He felt it... vibrating?

"Alright, let's go. Pat, we'll be back yeah? Are you alright on your own?"

"I'll be fine, don't worry. You should always help a friend in need," Patricia replied mischievously.

And so, Carla grabbed Colin's hand and was about to march towards the direction of the marquee tent, but Colin was having none of it.

"Please, Carla. To the hotel," he moaned.

"Alright, alright. Can you hold it?"

"Mmm. I'll do my best."

And so they half-walked, half-ran towards the hotel, very aware of the fact that they were leaving the designated racing zone and practically streaking in the streets of the town.

Colin's urgency grew, and he had to grit his teeth harder with every step. By the time they turned into the street where Colin's hotel was at, they were practically sprinting down it, ignoring the shocked looks of the pedestrians there.

They ran past the surprised receptionist and Colin hit the elevator button. Bouncing from one leg to another, he waited impatiently as the elevator finally arrived. They scrambled inside and Colin hit the number 3. Why did he have to go to the top floor?

In what was probably the longest thirty seconds of his life, the elevator finally stopped at his floor. The doors were barely open when he barged his way out, grabbing Carla's hand and dragging her with him.

He removed his gloves and beanie as they ran down the corridor. When they reached his room, Colin, at that moment, realised that his key was inside Carla's locker in the marquee tent.

Oh, to hell with it, he thought, before grabbing her by the waist and pulling her towards him. He didn't mean to be so aggressive, and she stumbled and slammed against him and he fell backwards, her landing on top of him. He hit the back of his head with a reverberating bang on the door. Carla giggled.

Carla didn't need any further invitation, as she quickly, in one fluid motion, removed her gloves, took his cock in one hand, straddled him and then plunged it inside her.

Colin was overcome with instant pleasure when he felt her wetness, and boy was she wet. Feeling like a livewire with all the pent up emotions of the past hour, he sat up, his back against the door of his room, and both of them squirmed and thrashed against each other. He let out grunts and moans, as did she, and neither cared if anyone heard them, because at that moment, the only people in the whole world were just the two of them.

In no time, Colin came. Three months of no sex and then this, and he came inside her, but then his cock slipped out of her and he came all over himself and squirted all over the place. The cleaning staff wouldn't be too happy with them tomorrow.

He inserted his cock back in her before it went completely soft, and immediately felt Carla's fingernails on his back as she shuddered against him and her legs shook from her orgasm, and felt her pussy pulsating against his cock. She let out a half-scream, half-moan, before going limp against his body.

Apparently she needed that as much as he did.

She laughed into his chest, which made him start laughing as well. They both lay there for a while, both of them still wearing their trainers, Carla still donning her beanie, and nothing else in between.

***

They walked back to the campus after making a pit stop at the lobby bathroom downstairs, where they cleaned up. They may have broken countless new boundaries today, but Colin wasn't really fancying walking around town covered in his own cum.

It was mortifying enough asking the receptionist permission to use the bathroom while entrails of his cum coating both of their chests and abs, and dangled from his cock and balls. The receptionist, a woman who looked to be in her thirties, was very professional and understanding, and did her best to avoid embarrassing Colin and Carla, but could not help but curiously stare at his cock as she interacted with them.

Once cleaned up, they walked out of the hotel, thanking the receptionist, who must have had the most entertaining night on duty, and strolled hand in hand towards the campus, naked as the day they were born save from their gloves, beanies and trainers. They could hear the muffled telltale sounds of a party in the distance.

It had gotten dark now and the streetlights made being naked outside feel almost mystical. Much of the town appeared to be at the party now, and they met only a couple of people on their way, and they exchanged hellos with them.

When they arrived at the party, they found that some of the runners had already gotten dressed, while some were still naked. Colin and Carla didn't bother to wear clothes. They eventually met Patricia, who was also naked. She grabbed Carla's hand, and Colin and her were dragged away to a modestly-sized building inside the campus which was thankfully warm.

There was a buffet inside, and Colin realised that most of those who were still naked had found refuge in the warmth in there. After piling their plates, he and Carla chatted with some of the other runners.

They met the group of five whom they had helped earlier during the day.

"This was just awesome," one of the guys said.

"We honestly didn't think there were going to be so many runners," another, a girl said. Colin discreetly glanced at her bare body. She certainly had a distance runner's physique; she was flat-chested, there was barely any fat on her, and she had that slender, springy look that runners typically had. Unlike most of the other female participants, she had a thick, curly thatch of pubic hair between her legs.

"Are you guys runners?" he asked.

"I am," she said, raising a hand. "Ellen, by the way, nice to meet you."

"Colin," he replied, accepting her handshake. "I'm a runner of sorts as well, but today was the first of a kind."

Ellen laughed.

"Same for me. Maura here is a serial skinny dipper, but she just got into running herself," she said, motioning to her friend next to her.

Maura was a cute little thing, with caramel skin and somewhat large breasts that tended to jiggle at the slightest movement. Colin kept his eyes on her face.

"Well, once you start you never go back," Colin told her wisely. "Just ask Carla here; I brainwashed her into this cult."

"Hey, I followed you around until you decided you couldn't get rid of me!" Carla said in mock indignation.

They laughed, and fell into comfortable conversation.

And that was how they spent much of the next couple of hours, before they started feeling leggy with the events of the day finally taking its toll on them.

Finally, Carla and him bade everyone goodnight, took their stuff from the tent and walked back towards the hotel. Wearing clothes was the last thing on their minds.

They made their way up to his room, but not before Colin cleaned up the mess they had made right in front of the door. And then they proceeded to make love again, this time slowly and properly.

They had the best, dreamless night of sleep in ages.