Wake Me

Prelude

Deep, ponderous thoughts clouded Dani's mind. What if the purpose of life isn't who you know or how much money you've saved or education you've earned? Petty ideas of how many friends you've made, followers you've acquired or the many kinds of talents, skills, or sportsmanship you've mastered came to mind. Those didn't seem right either. Maybe life isn't about any of those things at all; that the meaning of life really isn't complicated. Yet every person has their own agenda; some being selfish, others selfless.

But who would she be? Is she a fighter? Is she a lover? Is she a friend or a foe?

Dani blinked several times, coming to terms of her reality. The here. The now. The finale of her day. As she yawned, her mind succumbed to her bodies request to fall asleep. She rolled onto her side before reaching up to turn off her lamp. Her room was dark, at first before the filtered moon light began to highlight her comforter, her vanity, her dresser, her mirror. Horrified, her eyes flashed over to the bedroom door, back to the mirror. For a second, she thought she saw someone standing in the reflection...staring at her.

Pulling the blankets over her head, she slowed her breathing as her heart pounded in her chest. Building the nerve, she peeked over the covers to find the mirror reflecting the bedroom door as she sighed heavily.

Drawing in a deep breath, her eyes flittered as she welcomed slumber once again. A familiar place she could go and escape her conscious mind each night.

But, how familiar of a place could it be? One can hardly remember where they were, who they were with or what they did. Are they really dreams? But, what are dreams?

She turned over onto her belly, freeing her mind before another deep, ponderous thought without resolution came to her. She smothered her face into the soft pillow before losing the last bit of her conscious mind.

And without noticing again—someone had been there the entire time. Waiting patiently for her to enter his world.