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A review by andtheitoldyousos
Sleep Donation by Karen Russell
4.0
n the near-future, we lucky Americans are eyeball-deep in a new terror: we can’t sleep. Every day, thousands more become unable to reach REM. They die after days of restlessness. The only thing that can help? Donations of sleep from “healthy” dreamers. Not unlike a blood drive, people like Trish Edgewater are cold-calling sleepers, begging them to give some of their life to the lifeless.
Etiquette is a powerful programming, however, and easily exploitable. I sneeze. He sneezes back language at me, reflexive generosity: “Bless you.” A space opens up; I inch closer on the grass: “Mr. Harkonnen, can I trouble you for five minutes. of your evening? I’m asking on behalf of my dead sister, Dori Edgewater…”
I’m writing to you now from my own sleepless night; in the parlance of Sleep Donation you’d call me a “Voluntary Insomniac”. This was the perfect little slice of spooky science to keep me company on this cold and rainy night. I have been doing a lot of these awake-overnights as of late; like many other places in the world we are terribly short staffed. Unfortunately, we cannot change our hours or adjust our services, so many of us here are acting beyond or daily duties to assure that our students are comfortable and cared for…hence why you have not seen much of me lurking around these parts these days. Unlike the folks of Sleep Donation, I think we have a chance of escaping this perpetual twilight. We shall see, and hopefully I shall see more of you all soon.
Sweet dreams!
Etiquette is a powerful programming, however, and easily exploitable. I sneeze. He sneezes back language at me, reflexive generosity: “Bless you.” A space opens up; I inch closer on the grass: “Mr. Harkonnen, can I trouble you for five minutes. of your evening? I’m asking on behalf of my dead sister, Dori Edgewater…”
I’m writing to you now from my own sleepless night; in the parlance of Sleep Donation you’d call me a “Voluntary Insomniac”. This was the perfect little slice of spooky science to keep me company on this cold and rainy night. I have been doing a lot of these awake-overnights as of late; like many other places in the world we are terribly short staffed. Unfortunately, we cannot change our hours or adjust our services, so many of us here are acting beyond or daily duties to assure that our students are comfortable and cared for…hence why you have not seen much of me lurking around these parts these days. Unlike the folks of Sleep Donation, I think we have a chance of escaping this perpetual twilight. We shall see, and hopefully I shall see more of you all soon.
Sweet dreams!