Reality is bleak these days.
[[I would like a happy dream for once.]]My duvet is wrapped around me the way clouds wrap around the earth: patchily, with the occasional completely blanketed, overly humid area.
No matter how much I toss and turn, I cannot find anything resembling an optimal human-duvet configuration.
Exhaustion tries to take me, but the involuntary jerk of my leg prevents it from working its magic.
[[Eventually, I fall into a fitful sleep.]]I open my eyes and find myself still in bed.
The doorbell rings, even though nobody should be out and about.
I exit my bed through the entryway and cross through my neverending corridor in a matter of seconds.
I open the window and [[step out]] to answer the doorbell.I reach out to a red spark nearby and am swept up into a warm embrace.
I can't help but cling tightly to you. You're the first person I've seen in forever, after all.
Thank you for coming to see me.
Maybe we can chat a while? Not about what's happening outside this little safe space, because that's too big and scary and sad. Maybe we can talk about our [[favourite flowers]], or [[craft projects]] we've been working on, or [[the landscape]] around us.
I want to talk about something beautiful and true.I reach out to a pink spark nearby and feel something fuzzy brushing up against my leg.
When I look down, there you are, curled up against me. I've always wanted a cat.
Thank you for coming to see me.
It's been tough lately, you know? Even though I'm independent by nature, it's hard going completely without companionship. But now that you're here, I think [[the silence]] is okay again.
Let's stay here in this silence together.Hibiscus flowers are great, aren't they? Both pretty and delicious in syrup.
Butterfly pea flowers are delicious as well. A tisane made from their petals can change colour, you know.
And the flowers of the fountainbush bloom in great numbers. They're my favourite of all. They cascade out like rippling bells, and here, I'll give you a sprig to say -
[[I love you.]]It's a bit weird that we're floating on top of the sky, I think. But it's not bad. I won't let us fall.
And the clouds are so fluffy and warm! I could live in this feeling forever.
The sparks are pretty cute too. I'm glad that they brought you to me. It means that I can say -
[[I love you.]]For once, my mind isn't filled with worry or doubt. It, like the world around us right now, is at peace.
I think I forgot what peace was. I'm glad I could find it again, even if only in this dream.
It's all thanks to you, so I want to say -
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The clouds are covering me like a duvet atop a pillow fort: warm, protective, calming.
The sky speads out below me forever, as always. It is the colour that has changed. There are [[red]] and [[pink]] sparks drifting aimlessly...Here, have a hug before you go. Hugs are in short supply these days.
And again, thank you. I'll remember you when I wake up, so you'd better remember me too, okay?
It's time for me to [[wake up]] now.
Maybe - just maybe - I'll see you on the other side some time.I made so many paper stars - the type you build up from knots on long strips.
There was a drawstring bag, too. Sewed that up pretty amateurishly, but I got there in the end.
And now? Well, I suppose this dream is something like a craft project too, now that I'm lucid and all. I'm making it to say -
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Reality is bleak these days.
But I can still feel the warmth from my dream here inside my heart.