Karin Brynard writes: When sweet sleep abandons you

Lying awake at night, desperately counting sheep, you totally get why sleep deprivation is such an effective tool for torture, writes Karin Brynard.

We all know it, don’t we? That dreadful feeling in the wee hours of the night when you slowly surface from a deep, restful sleep. It wasn’t a nightmare that woke you. Or things that go bump in the night. You just woke up. Just sommer. For a few sweet moments you’re still hovering in a state between sleep and wakefulness. Then a dog barks. Or a cricket takes out his rusty violin right outside your bedroom window. And now you know it’s over. The gods of sleep have once again abandoned you, wide awake at that old, deserted station called Insomnia. And the last train has left.

You consider your options. Should you try counting sheep? Nah. It’s stupid.