Thoughts Before Sleep
Neil Hetzner
- Thoughts
- Before
- Sleep,
- a
- dark
- romantic
- comedy,
- tells
- the
- story
- of
- the
- end
- of
- Judith
- and
- Clark’s
- thirty-year
- marriage
- and
- the
- beginning
- of
- new
- lives
- for
- the
- unhappy
- couple.Fifty-eight-year-old
- Judith
- is
- trying
- to
- decide
- whether
- her
- loneliness,
- sadness,
- and
- anger
- are
- enough
- to
- overcome
- her
- fears
- about
- getting
- a
- divorce.
- Judith,
- who
- refers
- to
- herself
- as
- Sleeping
- Former
- Beauty,
- who
- has
- spent
- years
- wandering
- their
- twelve-room
- house
- listening
- to
- self-help
- books,
- begins
- going
- on-line
- to
- scroll
- through
- Tinder’s
- looking
- for
- a
- man
- who
- could
- make
- her
- feel
- loved
- again.
- She
- begins
- meeting
- men
- for
- lunch.
- Even
- as
- she
- evaluates
- her
- possibilities
- among
- the
- widowers,
- divorced,
- and
- liars,
- she
- fights
- her
- feelings
- of
- how
- these
- damaged,
- lonely
- men
- are
- looking
- at
- her,
- overweight
- and
- aged
- as
- she
- is.
Judith’s
- husband
- Clark,
- who
- depends
- upon
- a
- well-developed
- sense
- of
- duty
- both
- to
- get
- him
- through
- his
- tension-filled
- workweek
- days
- in
- Virginia,
- spends
- his
- weekends
- back
- in
- Rhode
- Island
- riding
- his
- lawnmower
- and
- talking
- to
- their
- dog
- Deebs
- rather
- than
- trying
- to
- communicate
- with
- the
- half-ghost
- of
- the
- woman
- who
- once
- infatuated
- him.Over
- the
- course
- of
- a
- year
- Judith
- and
- Clark
- divorce,
- endure
- emotional
- confusion,
- make
- false
- starts
- and
- stupid
- decisions,
- wound
- and
- are
- wounded,
- lose
- friends
- and
- make
- enemies,
- and
- come
- to
- favor
- black
- humor
- and
- gin
- as
- necessary
- tools
- as
- they
- struggle
- to
- cobble
- together
- new
- lives
- without
- each other.
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