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unfinished paperwork. Finally, near midnight, she retrieved a blanket from the linen closet, fluffed up on of the couch’s pillows so she could sleep. She had already placed a candle and matches and the flashlight on an end table just in case she awakened and the lights were out.

她一直看电视。看电视乏味了，她却还没有睡意。她又开始写工作日记。到了半夜。她从衣橱里拿出一条毯子和沙发枕垫准备睡觉。她已经把蜡烛，火柴和手电筒放在桌子边，以备夜里醒来电灯不亮。

Despite the fact that she was exhausted, it still took some time for her to fall asleep but eventually, she did drop into a troubled slumber. When she awakened, it was to a pale wet dawn. Still groggy with sleep, she was at first disoriented as to her whereabouts but realization soon came into full effect and she knew where she was. She wondered if Lane had returned home but glancing at her watch she read the time at 6:00 am, and he had said that his shift did not end until seven and perhaps later, depending on how bad the weather situation had become. She knew she was still alone.

尽管非常疲惫，她久久不能入睡。最后，她在忧虑不安中睡着。她醒来时，天已经蒙蒙亮。她感到自己还是昏昏沉沉，不知道自己在什么地方。清醒过来后，她想起来了，她想知道莱恩是否回来了。看了一下手表，早上六点。莱恩说过，他的夜班要干到七点，也可能七点以后，要看天气的变化了。她还是单独一人。

She laid there, trying to will herself back to sleep but the effort failed. She turned on the nearest lamp and was instantly grateful to see that the power was still on. Deciding to still save her cell phone for later, she returned to the kitchen to call the auto club in hopes that she had been classified again as an important service call. The operator apologized but stated he was afraid that it would be mid-morning before a tow truck to get to her car. She frowned to herself but said nothing. She tried to smother her impatience with the auto service by reminding herself that were probably other people still stranded and in far worse shape than she was. It was little consolation but she accepted it and poured herself an cup of old cold coffee, set in the microwave, heated it for one and a half minutes, and then drank the strong brew to awaken herself. As soon as she finished the coffee, she planned to take a shower and dress once again in her freshly laundered clothes. She wanted to ready as soon as the car was brought to leave and head back to her own life.

她躺在床上，想让自己再睡着，但是无法入睡。她开了一下电灯，心中一乐，仍然有电。为了让手机保留电池量，她走到厨房去打电话给汽车俱乐部，希望自己能重新排到重要服务名单中。话务员道歉一声，说一辆拖车会在半个上午后到达她的小车。她皱起眉毛，没有回话。

Three hours more of television and ending rain, her car and Lane arrived at the same time.
又看了三个小时电视后，雨停了。她的小车和莱恩同时来到。

***

When Lane watched Marla finally drive off, he felt a sudden sense of emptiness in the house. He had lived there alone for the last two years since his divorce from his wife, Ella. It had not been the sweetest of parting but was there really ever an amicable divorce? Ella had taken too much with her in his opinion. She had taken his hopes for the kind of marriage his parents had. He knew Ella was not the same type of woman as his mother who had loved the big old house and the quiet life of a rural life. Ella was not happy living off the pay of a county deputy sheriff. She wanted activity, a social life, and the vibrancy of city life. He did not really blame her but he just could not give up his family home and his contentment in his job and life for a higher paced one. Three years of marriage and no children and she left for better things in her opinion.