Story 79: Perchance to Sleep

            I have to get up at 4:00 in the morning next week to catch that flight on time.  I should prepare mentally now.

            4:00 p.m. (the day before the flight): Twelve hours to go.  I’m all packed, the house will be watched, the snail mail will be held, the cat will be comforted.  I can relax a bit by checking e-mails one more time.

            4:30 p.m.: I should probably make dinner now so I’ll be ready for bed at 8:00 to get a full night’s sleep.  I can push it to 8:30, though; 9:00 tops.

            5:00 p.m.: It’s only just now a suitable time to start eating dinner.  I’ll make something quick.

            6:00 p.m.: It’s hard to make dinner and watch TV at the same time.

            6:45 p.m.: Still cleaning up and packing last-minute items that I know I’d miss the moment I saw that they were not in my suitcase.  I’m all wired from the preparations – think I’ll take a bath to calm down.

            7:30 p.m.: I’m all pruny from the bath, and I just remembered that I wanted to see if I can put a hold on my streaming video subscription while I’m gone.  And I almost forgot to call my credit card company so it’s not surprised when “Dublin” shows up on my purchases.

            8:15 p.m.: The excitement is over and even though the sun is still out, I should really think about going to bed now.  I’ll think about it.

            8:45 p.m.: I forgot to enter away messages on my e-mail accounts.

            9:00 p.m.: I really should bring floss with my toothbrush and toothpaste.  I might need some lotion, too.

            9:30 p.m.: Should I leave a key with the neighbors?  Guess it’s too late to ask them now.  Right, I need to bring my contact lens kit, and my glasses – that would have been bad if I forgot those!

            10:00 p.m.: OK, now I really need to go to bed – by the time I fall asleep, it’ll be less than six hours before I have to wake up and I’ll still be tired, which I don’t much like feeling.  To bed, to bed.

            10:15 p.m.: Lying in bed, trying to fall asleep.

            10:30 p.m.: Maybe I should try reading a book?  That usually sends me off to dreamland.  Ooh, I just got to the exciting part in the plot!

            11:00 p.m.: Five hours left, and still not the least bit sleepy.  Would warm milk do?  No, getting up to make it would keep me even more awake.

            11:30 p.m.: At this point, I should try not falling asleep.  I’ll check my suitcase again for anything missing.  Almost forgot to bring socks!

            12:00 a.m.: Four hours to go.  Still not sleepy.  Count sheep?  Nah, I’ll count the money I wish I had: one million, two million….

            2:30 a.m.: Yes!  I was asleep!  And it was over two hours!  But now I only have an hour and a half left.  Noooooooo….

            3:45 a.m.: Not fair – not fair – not fair – not fair –

            4:00 a.m.: Alarm.  Sleep was highly unsatisfactory.  Maybe the jet lag will help.