Reply #23: The only thing that wakes me out of a dead sleep

[Warpy]

is the smell of smoke. I lived in a Beacon Hill firetrap for a few years and the area is extremely densely populated, meaning fires could spread fast. All these years later I'll be standing next to the side of my bed before it registers "fireplace next door."

I was also a night nurse, meaning I could sleep through the clap of creation after my last in a series of 12 hour nights.

Kids sleep like the dead, anyway, which is why some of the newest smoke alarms feature their parents' voices on a tape loop screaming at them to wake up.

It's just a little odd that they claimed to be asleep at 4:15 PM. I'm thinking there's a little embellishment there to increase the drama. I don't think they need have bothered, watching a cannonball crash through your front door and hop up the steps would do it.