My Year of Rest and Relaxation

by Ottessa Moshfegh

You may consider getting a pet to build up your relational skills. Parrots, I hear, are nonjudgmental.”

A hum in the air signaled the approaching wave. Sleep was coming for me. I knew the sound of it by now, the fog-horn of dead space that put me on autopilot while my conscious self roamed like a goldfish. The sound got louder until it was almost deafening, and then it stopped.