Watch and Whisper

Prologue

I didn't remember anything that had happened when I woke for the first time. Except the dreams. I was too groggy to open my eyes, so I lay still, in the disoriented state one is in after a deep sleep is interrupted. Those dreams had been so real. Dreams of many things, but mostly, they were of a man. I could not forget such a face as his. He was so beautiful. Painfully beautiful, even. Painfully, because the hard truth had stared back at me through his captivating brown eyes. A man like that would never think the same of me. I'm too ordinary. Certainly not much to look at. Plus my upbringing had been modest. My broken family never had a lot of money, and we struggled more often than not. This man looked to be wealthy, and I knew rich, attractive men did not bother with poor, unattractive women. So, I had nothing to offer him that he didn't already have or could not easily get. Still, there was a bittersweet thought floating in my sleep clouded mind. The dream had been so divine, and the memory of it so sweet, that I did not want to wake. I just wanted to sink back into the void and search for a man I would probably never find again. So I surrendered to sleep's heavy embrace once more, hoping.