The Elephant Vanishes: Stories

The next story, “Sleep,” is narrated by a woman who has not slept for 17 days. She does not consider her sleeplessness insomnia because she does not feel tired at all (she reflects on an earlier bout of insomnia she had in college, which felt completely different). One day, she simply stopped needing to sleep. Neither her husband (a dentist) nor her young son have noticed that anything has changed, and she does not tell them about her condition. She reflects on how repetitive and dull her life had become before she stopped sleeping, and how she now has time for herself. She also remembers that the night she stopped sleeping she dreamt of an old man pouring water over her feet.

The woman spends her sleepless nights reading Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, drinking brandy, and eating chocolate. When she feels restless, she drives around in her Honda Civic. She tries to understand what is happening to her and why she does not need to sleep, but she eventually decides to simply enjoy the extra time she has. One night, she drives her Civic to an empty parking lot, where the car is attacked. When she drives away, the engine won’t turn, and the woman panics, realizing that her attackers are going to turn her car over.