Pill-Os

In the past, my head often would not let me fall to sleep. Actually, this happened nearly every night. It started years ago...hmm, now that I think about it, the actual year was 1960. When the lights went out and my head touched the pillow, things at first seemed peaceful. But then some tiny little voice, as naggy and irritating as Woody Allen's, started whining in my cerebrum. Every time I almost fell asleep, that sliced-up little voice would suddenly shout out and jolt me back to the Land of No Sleep. This happened again and again, sometimes all the way till sunup.

I finally sought help. To be honest, I sought help many times, many many times, but it took about 29 years until I found anyone who could shut that damn little voice up.

And the solution proved to be so simple. A tiny little pill. A tiny little white, round pill. It looks like a compact, condensed miniature white couch cushion, no bigger than...well, an Aspirin. But it's not an Aspirin. I tried those things for years. Who are we kidding? That's sort of like trying to stop the Armageddon Meteorite with (sorry) an Aspirin.

So I place that tiny (not-Aspirin) little white round more-than-a-cushion in my palm each night, pitch it into my mouth, swallow it down with (not-bottled) water, and wait. 10, 15, 20 minutes. Ah! There it goes.

Off with the TV. Out with the light. Head down on the pill-o(w). Eyes shut. Count a few sheep (the cool neon-blue ones on a black starry background are my favorite). 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12..13...14.....15.......16..........17...................17..................................