Insomnia
by Lori Lipsky
Harper hasn’t slept well in twenty years. She’s tried almost every sleep trick she ever heard or read about, but her struggle continues. She doesn’t appreciate advice on the topic from others anymore—she’s heard everything already and tried everything. These days, she’ll speak of the topic with her husband, her physician, and her chiropractor, but no one else.
On Monday afternoon, Harper drove to her weekly physical therapy appointment. Her doctor referred her weeks earlier for an ankle issue. Her therapist was in an unusually cranky mood, complaining about how tired she felt because a loud crack of thunder woke her at two o’clock in the morning. Even though she was able to fall right back to sleep, the noise had interrupted her opportunity for a solid eight hours and left her irritable.
Harper chuckled to herself. She hadn’t enjoyed a full night’s sleep for decades. Whenever her mind settled down enough to allow her to sleep, her bladder seemed to wake her up. She often says said she inherited her bladder from her mother’s side of the family.
“What about when your son was a baby? The baby must have interrupted your sleep,” Harper said.
“I honestly don’t know how I survived his first year. It’s probably why we only have one child. My husband took the middle of the night feedings and my mother stayed over a lot too. I absolutely despise having my sleep disturbed.”
Harper never had trouble sleeping as a child. Those were the days. Her sleep issues started as an adult when she worked the night shift. Even though she only worked nights for a few years, her struggles with sleep started at that time and continue.
On Tuesday, Harper’s daughter dropped by. She walked a direct line from the front door to the living room sofa, tucked her straight arms snug against her body, promptly plopped down on her stomach, and closed her eyes. “Is it okay if I take a quick nap here? It’s my day off and we’ve got workers putting in a new furnace. Something woke me up last night. It must have taken me fifteen minutes to get back to sleep! I can really feel it today.”
Harper bit her lip, but answered in the affirmative to her daughter, who looked like she was already asleep.
Harper phoned her dad the next day to ask how he was doing.
“I think I’m going to stop taking the medicine the doctor gave me for my prostate. Because of it, I’m up every two or three hours to go to the bathroom.”
“Don’t you fall right back to sleep?”
“Yes, but I’m not going to keep getting up every three hours for the rest of my life. That’s ridiculous.”
Harper didn’t remind her dad that she had been suffering similar sleep issues for years, even though she had never taken prostate medicine.
The following Monday, her physical therapist didn’t even greet her, she just launched into a new sleep story as if they were already in the middle of a conversation. Harper wanted to turn and leave, but it was too late. Her therapist hooked her when she said, “You’ll never guess in a million years what woke me up last night.”
Harper knew there was no escape. She had to hear the rest of the story. And her physical therapist would expect sympathy.
***
If you liked this story, you may like some of my other short stories. I invite you to check them out:
Used Cookie Sheets:Very Short Stories
The books Used Cookie Sheets and Turquoise Parade are available on Amazon, and also from Barnes & Noble.com, Walmart.com, Abebooks, and BooksAMillion.com. A Beautiful Voice is available at no cost if you sign up at LoriLipsky.com.