All Comments on 'My Mind is Gone'

She's been watching television (half dozing) since she got home and the first mention of time it's only 5:30? If she was so tired, how did she get home safely? And how could she be so lucid about her roommates porn collection but completely out of it? And why wouldn't she have a nap when she got home?

It would have been kind of boring to describe it all in detail in the story, but basically, she finished the last thing she had to do around noon (the finals, which she chugged Red Bull to stay lucid for, to ever-diminishing returns) and walked home--she's got an apartment just off-campus, so she didn't have to drive. Which is good, because as you pointed out, she's not safe to drive. (She probably wasn't safe to drive back from Eau Claire overnight either, but she's a college student and is secure in the belief in her own immortality and the power of legal over the counter stimulants.) Basically, she took classes, worked her job, drove to Eau Claire, did the wedding (possible nap in Eau Claire, but nothing like real sleep), drove back, took finals, and is now wiped.

It's a Friday at this point, and she's deeply worried that if she "takes a nap", she's going to wake up around 2 AM and have her sleep schedule fucked up even worse. So she's decided to do the thing that seems perfectly logical when you're sleep deprived and loopy as hell, which is to push it that last little bit further while you don't have any responsibilities and can't do any real damage beyond being miserable and exhausted, and go to bed at an hour that at least resembles your normal sleep schedule so that you can get back on track with a nice fourteen-hour coma.

The mention of her roommate's porn collection is poetic license, though. :)

This usually doesn't happen when you are suffering from sleep deprivation.

Try, and you'll probably regret it. I know from personal experience.