Micro-story: The Happy Woman Who Sleeps Little / 少睡的快樂女人 (by Tonkabean)

Micro-story: The Happy Woman Who Sleeps Little  (by Tonkabean)

 

"Did you laugh today?"

At 4 AM, Ah Ta asked this question to the mirror. As if asking you, asking me, asking herself.

Ah Ta has a family, children, plans, and two books waiting to be written. She sleeps only three and a half hours a night, yet she's like a light bulb that never needs charging. In others' eyes, she never seems tired, always carrying a certain glow and warmth.

She has a trick: close her eyes, breathe in for four seconds, breathe out for eight seconds — like a meditating frog. Three and a half hours of sleep isn't a deficit for her; it's a precise energy-compression technique. Can't sleep? Don't get angry. Breathe deeply. Laugh. There's still so much to do.

Tonight, a black crow appeared on the living room sofa. Ah Ta genuinely wanted to crush it with one finger.

She stepped closer and asked: "Why do your eyes look like mine? Can't you sleep either?"

She had been wrestling with an AI over the lines of a strange drawing. The night was too quiet, the crow too black. Then, without warning, Ah Ta's abdomen began to pulse rhythmically, and her throat let out a dry "Ho Ho Ha Ha."

She wasn't crazy. This kind of laughter bypasses the brain's rational system — it's the only technique that allows adults to laugh continuously without thinking. The crow tilted its head, its black eyes rolling, as if to say: "Hey, don't you sleep?"

Ah Ta laughed back at it and tilted her head in return. One woman, one bird, playing a mimicry game at 4 AM.

The Laughter Yoga teacher's manual says laughter summons a team of special forces called "NK cells" that hunt down viruses and bad cells. Ah Ta doesn't sleep, but her immune system works harder than anyone's, patrolling quietly through the night. She could even handle a crow attack — but the question is, do crows have NK cells too?

The clock moved toward four. The crow flapped its wings and flew toward the window. Just before leaving, it turned back and let out two sounds — "Ho Ho Ha Ha" — same rhythm, same timing, exactly the same.

Was this an AI hallucination, or her own? Ah Ta scratched her head. Suddenly, a Laughter Yoga exercise came to mind — she unzipped the top of her head, took out her brain, rinsed it like a cabbage, put it back, zipped it up, and felt as fresh as if she'd been replaced by a brand new one.

She poured out her cold tea. The sky was growing light. The children would wake soon.

As for that laughing crow — she thought, tonight at 3:30, she'd ask it again.

End

微故事: 少睡的快樂女人 (東加豆)

"你今天笑了嗎？" 凌晨四點，亞亭對著鏡子問。彷彿在問你、問我、問她自己。

亞亭有家庭、有孩子、有計劃，還有兩本書在等她寫。她每天只睡三個半小時，卻像一顆不用充電的燈泡，別人眼裡的她，從不疲倦，總是帶著光芒與熱情。

她有一項心得：閉上眼，吸氣四秒，呼氣八秒，像一隻在打坐的青蛙。三個半小時的睡眠，對她來說不是透支，而是一種精準的能量壓縮技術。睡不了，不生氣，深呼吸，再來笑，還有很多事情等著她。

今夜，客廳沙發上莫名多了一隻黑色烏鴉，亞亭真的想一隻手指卒死牠！

她一步一步走近問："為什麼你的眼神和我一樣？你也失眠嗎？"

本來她正在跟AI為一幅怪畫的線條角力。黑夜太靜，烏鴉太黑，亞亭的腹部突然毫無預兆地抽動起來，喉嚨發出 "Ho Ho Ha Ha"的乾笑。

她沒有瘋。這種笑繞過了大腦的理智系統，是唯一一種不需要思考就能持續大笑的技巧。烏鴉側起頭，黑眼珠骨碌碌地轉，像是在說："喂，你不用睡的嗎？"

亞亭對著牠笑，又學牠側頭，一人一鳥，在凌晨四點玩起了模仿遊戲。

大笑瑜伽導師手冊說，笑聲會召喚一隊叫「NK細胞」的特種兵，專門捕捉病毒和壞細胞。亞亭不用睡，但她的免疫系統比任何人更勤快，在黑夜裡默默巡邏。即使有烏鴉來襲擊也能撐得住——問題是，烏鴉也有NK細胞嗎？

時鐘走向四點。烏鴉拍拍翅膀，向窗飛出去。臨走前，牠回頭，發出兩聲 "Ho Ho Ha Ha"——頻率、節奏，一模一樣。

究竟這是AI幻覺，還是自己的幻覺？亞亭抓了抓頭，腦海忽然飄起一個大笑瑜伽練習——她拉開頭頂的拉鏈，把腦袋掏出來，像洗一顆白菜那樣沖了沖，塞回去，拉好拉鏈，整個人清爽得像煥然一新。

她倒了茶，天色微亮，孩子快醒了。

至於那隻會笑的烏鴉——她想，今晚三點半，再問牠。

完

 

日期 Date： 2026

圖 Illustration: 人工智豆 (Ai-Bean)

文 Written by: 東加豆 (Tonkabean)

我除了寫微故事，還製作有聲書，希望我們能互相認識。

喜歡我的文章嗎？盼得到您的支持、點讚，或分享我的文章，讓我知道創作的路上有你陪伴。

Besides writing micro-stories, I also create audiobooks. I hope we can get to know each other.

Do you like my stories? I hope to have your support, likes, or shares. Let me know that you are with me on this creative journey.

關於我 /About me ：https://tonkabean.me/

故事選集 / Story Collection

https://tonkabean2016.blogspot.com/

https://matters.town/@tonkabean/collections