Reading Dracula Out Loud to the Melatonin Kid

Wear the old coat and buy the new book. -Austin Phelps

Lately I’ve been reading the old novel Dracula to Arle at night, in bed, before the melatonin gummies kick in. It’s a rarified comfort I find in that time, just the two of us. Maybe a little Rioja in my system, maybe a little pineapple hard seltzer in hers. Or maybe not. Maybe just Paul Newman salad…