Sleep Evades Lenore

Lenore grabbed a handful of popcorn and put it to her mouth as her favorite show was interrupted by an alarming sound. Words flashed across the T.V. and moved in a vertical fashion disappearing as the letters continued:

We interrupt this program

to warn the community

that we are under

“Extreme Heat Warning.”

What does this mean

for you and your family…

Lenore laughed at the mention of the word, “Family” she breathed out bitterly. Lenore has no one, not even a child or a husband to care for. Before she could put her second handful of popcorn in her mouth, her old box T.V. flashed off and her lights flickered out. “Oh, come on! I just wanted to watch my show in peace!” She yelled out at absolutely no one and her words cut off as she regained her breath. Lenore looked to her left reviewing the window, the moon peered in shining on her aged nightgown. She set her popcorn to the side and stumbled to the bedroom. Sleep was the only thing left to do as the night embraced her thoughts. As she snuggles into bed, her hand reaches for the teeth in her mouth and drops it into the solution on the nightstand. Now she was ready for a decent rest.

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Lenore wakes up what feels like ten minutes later drenched in sweat. Her gown lays in a pool around her sticky body. She feebly turns into her pillow, “I can’t sleep in this condition!” But it comes out as I chant sweep in twis condwition until she turns to put her teeth back in. As she stirs in bed she turns over to flip the light switch on. The lamp clicks but no light comes on. Her frustration comes to a still as she tries to remember what she saw on the T.V. Was it something to do with a family? Lenore doesn’t have a family so good riddance that the T.V. turned off anyways. She finds her way to the doorway of the living room and slowly paces creating friction with her flat house shoes. The darkness of the house echoes in her mind as she makes her way back towards the moonlit window. There should be lights surrounding the town but there is nothing but the moon out there. As she looks through, a darker shadow lurks past the mailbox and knocks over the trashcan. What in the world? She stumbles back and holds her chest while gasping for a breath of air. He found me. Lenore squeezes her eyes shut compressing every ounce of emotion she has felt during her lifetime. A glass of water would surely help. She makes her way to the kitchen feeling around for the walls she has known since she was a child. She was simply overthinking; there is no way he could have found where she is. He’s dead, he’s gone, he can’t find you here, he moved on long ago. Her emotions are slightly calm as she gulps a bit of water, but she notices something odd about her back door. She was sure she had locked it before she went to bed, hadn’t she? She locked the door as fast as her weary hands would let her. Lenore tried to cry but instead squeezed her eyes once again, the salt from her body had evaporated leaving no tears. Nothing was accidental, it was all an intentional and elaborate plan to get her alone. Alone with her thoughts, alone with her house, and alone with her souring brain. She just wanted to watch T.V. Why couldn’t that be possible? Life could pass her by, and she wouldn’t know it even if she tried. He must have found her. He decided he wanted to be a father after all. Lenore is glad but how does she tell him that it was a false alarm? She just wants to start over fresh again, maybe listen to her family this time. They are gone though, there is no family, is there?

“Lenore please, open the door. I am going to be in so much trouble if you don’t open this door. If you understand me, please open the door” A woman’s voice bounces from the ceiling. Who is that? It’s not Timmy after all; he must have found out the pregnancy was a false alarm and moved on with this woman. “Nancy, I know that’s you! I said to get out of my life! You can have Timmy; I no longer care!” Her breath hitched those last words as she slipped to the floor clutching her chest.

“Lenore, my name isn’t Nancy it’s Katie, I just started two days ago, remember? I am your nurse.”

“The heat is getting to her we need to get her out, now!” A man shouts and the locked door gets hit over and over. Lights power back on, and the kitchen starts to cool down. The sweat on Lenore’s nightgown causes her to shiver on the tile. Only, when she opens her eyes the slightest, she realizes this isn’t her childhood home and this is not her childhood kitchen. Her eyes flutter shut, once more.

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When Lenore wakes up, she doesn’t fully understand what happened, but she hears voices. Her lungs take in the fresh air supplied by a tube under her nose. She tries her best to understand what the voices are saying. Katie is getting fired, whoever that is, and Lenore had a heatstroke. They couldn’t get to her in time before it occurred. Something about Katie realized she was missing she was behind a locked door and non-responsive. Lenore’s eyes try to focus on the annoying paper cutting into her soft skin. It has large letters and reads:

Lenore H. DOB 3-16-1942

Admitted 8-8-2025

Address: Dandy Way Nursing Home

Health Condition: Dementia

That can’t be true, Lenore has survived on her own as long as she can remember. She closes her eyes, and a stream of tears escape with no remorse. For the first time Lenore realizes how alone she is. The confusion of her mind is exhausting; she just wants to go to sleep, but it evades her, nonetheless.