Dream.

It was a dream, but it was real. It was beyond real and back into a dream world, and he fought it hard. Why had she come to him this night? Maybe she came when he needed her most. When he felt the fear and vulnerability rise up from the depths of his quivering guts.

She floated above him, emulating light; radiating. Beads of sweat dripped from the pores of his lined forehead and landed softly on the linen beneath him. He rolled furiously from side to side. Her scent encapsulated his body. The room smelt of her sweet aroma, and now she was in his lungs. Shaking and nauseated, he pulled the sheet up over his face and breathed deeply. He breathed her in, and he breathed her out again. With every inhalation he felt her again. Strong and stronger until he was her. She was the tide and he was the sandy beach, dragged in and out, powerless to her onslaught.

The waves died down as time went by and he sensed her presence waining. He wasn’t sure how long she’d been with him now. It may have been seconds. It could have been hours. It felt like eternity and back. When he woke at dawn he was alone. Her presence had reminded him of the true weight of love and he felt lucky to have escaped her clutches this time around. He rose from his bed with a light heart and felt the solid oak floor beneath his withered feet. Very little time had passed, but he lived to be alone.