Bart Simpson was a typical young kid, he loved riding his skateboard and hanging out with his friends, but also enjoyed his time alone aswell. During the weekends he would seclude himself in his room, playing retro video games or watching TV. His parents (Marge and Homer Simpson) were okay with it, and didn't think anything of it. It was summer, but Bart didn't act like his usual self. Bart would usually do what he did on the weekends during school, play games and watch TV. Of course, he couldn't do that forever and would sometimes go outside to ride his skateboard or whatever. No, this summer was different, and he was very excited about it. Previous to the summer, Bart had been experiencing a particular type of anxiety. Even his family noticed it, he was restless, and talked faster than normal. He had been preparing for this summer ever sense it began.
Ever sense he learned to enjoy the Pony Dream.
It all started during the end of fourth grade, when he experienced the dream for the first time. He went to sleep, but didn't wake up in his bed. He woke up in a green field, with a bright blue sky. He got up on his feet. He didn't wonder why he was in the field, as it was a dream, and such things might not be considered. He could hear a lot of commotion, talking. He couldn't make any of it out, and was honestly confused by the slightly distorted sound of so many voices. When he tried to look at his surrounding, he noticed lots of multicolored four legged figures standing all around him. Like horses, only smaller. They didn't move a muscle, and stood like manikins. All facing away from him, as if they were ignoring him. He walked closely to one for a better look. They were blurred for some reason, like he had water in his eye. He just couldn't make out any detail. He touched one, a cyan colored one, and immediately his sense of sight went away. He regained consciousness and jolted awake in his bed, feeling a horrible sense of melancholy that he wasn't used to feeling.
He checked the alarm clock at his bed stand.
"2:00 AM"
He was frustrated, he hated waking up in the morning. Even more, he hated not being able to go back to sleep. He tried, but his effort were futile. He just couldn't stop thinking, he was usually very relaxed and mellow, and his friends thought he was cool for being able to retain his relaxed posture, but no! He couldn't stop thinking and thinking! He had never experienced this type of mental traffic, and didn't know how to guide it. They were all very unnecessary impulse created daydreams that he could usually control and stop. He took a deep breath, got out his bed, turned on a lamp, and sat down on a chair next to his desk. He felt like there was a whirlwind in his head. He took a couple more breaths and could feel himself ease down a little, and after a while, he was back in his zone. Mellow.
Until he noticed something. Something that he had been doing unconsciously. He had been rocking back and forth his chair. It was so subtle. When he noticed it, he recoiled in shock from the bizarreness of his unconscious behavior.
"Keep it together, man!" He whispered to himself, trying to regain his usual relaxed attitude.
He put his elbows on the desk in front of him and grabbed the sides of his tall yellow head. But once he did, he could feel all those thoughts again. All those anxious little thoughts demanding to be elaborated on. Even more, he could feel this slight itch in the back of his brain. It was an itch that could only be scratched by swaying back and forth. He began to consciously rock back and forth, feeling more relaxed at he did it. He just hoped this was a one night thing, and that this wouldn't become a constant habit. His image at school would be negatively altered, he thought, if he was always rocking back and forth like a maniac.
After a short while, he laid back in bed, ready for what would be first of many attempts to sleep. It didn't work so well. He was constantly harassed by thoughts. After about 30 minutes he fell asleep, but woke back up just 2 minutes later. This went on for hours, until it was 5:30 AM, at which time he just gave up, sat in his bed, rocked back and forth, and pampered those nagging thoughts. His alarm clock was set to go off at 6:00, for school. So for the remainder of the time, he just rocked and day dreamed, restlessly.
Once his alarm clock finally began ringing, snapping Bart out of his 30 minute daydream of nothingness, he got up, and took to his usual morning routine. It was during breakfast before school did Bart's new habits start showing again. He thought he was just eating his cereal, until he noticed his sister Lisa rocking back and forth giggling, obviously mimicking him.
"Oh, heh, didn't notice I was doing that." He said, straightening his back, making sure he wouldn't display that unusual behavior again. He really didn't want his parents noticing, they would bug the hell out of him for it, which is okay, because his family always did that in a humorous sense, but this habit was something he wasn't sure about. That nights incident worried him, really, but he didn't know what he could do help himself. So he just tried his best to remain calm, and dismiss it as nothing.
Later that morning, he boarded the bus to school. School wasn't something he enjoyed at all, and often caused trouble there. He certainly didn't want go today, as he had some mysterious internal struggles to think about... But regardless, he was on the bus, and his day was just beginning.
