But when two people are lying in bed in the middle of the night, waiting for a phone that doesn't ring, things tend to get quiet. The creaking in the walls. The rush of the wind and snow outside the window. The insomniac neighbor next door who turns off the radio and gets ready to go to bed one more time. Karin has promised Sander that he doesn't have to go to sleep until Julie calls to say good night.
Sander is seven and a half.
Julie should have called several hours ago. At this very moment Karin and Sander are lying close together in bed. Only their faces are sticking up over the comforter, along with a little tousled hair. Now and then Karin tells him a story. That's what she's doing right now.