The Wall

Friday nights are brutal. They just are. Something about the end of the week makes the whole world seem paired off and sealed shut. People have plans. People have someone. People disappear into their own houses and routines and shared evenings. And I’m here with dishes, laundry, kids, exhaustion, and the dead quiet that comes after bedtime. That’s when the loneliness gets specific. Not just, “I wish people were around.” More like, “I know exactly who should be here, and she isn’t.” I’ve tried distracting myself. TV. Music. Cleaning. Messaging people. None of it really touches the core thing. Because the problem isn’t boredom. It’s deprivation. I’m deprived of my person. The one who would have made a boring Friday night feel like life instead of a holding pattern. So yeah, I get through it. Like I get through everything else. But Friday evenings can go straight to hell.