Overview

Tilde lives in a small Swedish town and while her quiet life is pretty good otherwise, she simply cannot get some sleep. She ends up going to the Insomnia Club - a small, nightly gathering of women who can’t sleep. There she finds a complication that stirs up her peaceful life, she develops a crush on Johanna, the kind, gorgeous, harpist, and owner of the Insomnia Club. The complication lies in that Tilde thought she was straight and worries Johanna may be as well. Tilde turns to her lesbian friend and with her expert advice, tries to find ways to ascertain Johanna’s sexuality and then, if possible, ask her out.

Sadly, things aren’t that easy. Especially not when Tilde’s other friends start trying to help.
One slapstick accident after another sets Tilde back. Still, she can’t stop hoping to get closer to the woman of her dreams.

However, when you have no experience with women, scarce self-confidence, madcap friends, and you’re running on very little sleep – how do you get a goddess to date you? Also, how do you manage to cure your insomnia with all of this going on?

A short story from the Once in Sweden universe
This short story was originally published in the Summer Loving anthology 2020, now extended and re-edited