The Dream.
Warm sleep embraces me as I drift away…
A single track trail winds forth from the dark abyss. The loamy soil beneath my feet feels soft and welcoming as I run along. Towering redwoods on either side give shelter to a still fog that clings to the air and gives a calmness to the landscape. Rays of light are doing their best to break the night, casting strange golden shadows around the monstrous trunks all around. I drift through the lush forest quietly, following a well beaten path. Wide-eyed with a sense of familiarity, I bend along the trail.
I’ve been here a thousand times. It is my home, my shelter, my sanctuary. I feel warm here. Curving like a wild snake, the path is never-ending and ever changing. Here my movement flows with ease, like a conversation with an old friend. The winding carpet eventually folds in on itself as the switchbacks give way to a break in the trees and a flowered meadow opens in the distance. My legs dance moisture off in motion as I disturb the dew from the morning field, leaving a darkened path in my wake. My hands lightly graze the tall grass as I continue by, the thick silence now being tickled by a small stream nearby.
I am alone, just like the other times, with only the rhythmic rising and falling of my chest and the pounding in my ears to keep me company. Steam rises lazily from my heated body as I glide forward in slow motion back towards the tree line.
Retreating to the safety of the forest, the air has now changed. The welcoming warm fog has given way to a heavy mist, chilling to the core. The sun seemingly has lost its battle here in the hollow as darkness wraps its bony hand tightly around the trail. The floating sensation fades away quickly, replacing itself with cement every step further away from the light. All around, the once vibrant foliage is in various stages of decay, the air sharp with the smell of damp and dying wood. I am dragged forward, an invisible force pushing me as I am forced further and further into the darkness until all at once, it swallows me whole.
I gasp myself awake, drawing in breath like a crying newborn. Sitting bolt upright I am soaked in cold sweat with my heart pounding through my chest. My vision clears and the dark forest dissolves away to my bedroom. A gentle stirring beside me snaps me into reality. As I lay back into my warm bed, she shifts in her sleep and rests her head and hand on my chest. A light squeeze from my clammy hand to no response tells me that she was undisturbed. Good.The moments pass and our breathing falls back into sync, and before I know it I begin to fade away again. The bedroom melts slowly into darkness as my eyes grow heavy and my feet feel light.
A single track trail winds forth from the dark abyss. The loamy soil beneath my feet feels soft and welcoming as I run along…
