The Poppy Fields

Ellis sits silently, sipping scotch and waiting for the clock to hit midnight and for her birthday to be over. Her thoughts first turn to a patient who troubled her and then to her sister, Ava. As children, they were inseparable, but Ellis was ambitious even in high school. She knew that she wanted to leave Kansas for college, and she also wanted a career that might not bring her back. Granny Mae encouraged her, helping her apply to Stanford and congratulating her when she got in. When she left, Ava was still in braces and had just begun wearing her first training bra. Adolescence had become a gulf between them.

Once she left, she rarely visited. She kept in touch with Granny Mae, who had encouraged her to pursue her sleep research, until she died two years ago. Ellis knows that if someone made a comprehensive documentary about her life, it would appear that she gave up family for career, and she did. The world judges ambitious women, she knows, but she values her work too greatly to care.