My eyes grew heavy with sleep and like a pair of heavy doors,
They shut with a muted thud
I rode the tide of a fevered sleep
And in my delirium I saw her again.
Her feet left not a single print on the tufted floor
And her garment, flowing downward to curl around her feet,
Made not the barest phantom of a whisper
“Who are you?” I wondered.
But this unwelcome august visitor uttered not a single word
And I bore this silence with an ominous feeling;
My night, she haunted like a desolate ghost in search of its murderer
That I see not another face but hers in my waking hour
Closer, she moved
Yet farther still I beheld her
Like a mirage formed amidst the mist of reality;
Her silhouette like that of a troubled maiden.
The flashlight, which I bore with me, I shone on her
That I may fathom the disclosed secret
Of this maiden hidden within the shadows
But the beam reached her not
And yet she walked closer and closer still
With all the grace and purpose of a haunted spirit
Afraid, I clutched my trapped heart,
That was beating erratically in its cage
And stumbled back a few steps
But she matched my pace with two of hers
“My sleep I forfeit, If only you would let me be!” I cried
Perhaps, that was a sigh I heard
Or was it a gasp, I wondered
But it did seem to come from me.
“Come…” She whispered
Or so I thought she did,
As she seemed to speak directly to my mind,
And compelled, I moved towards her
The closer I got, the deeper the shadows masking her identity
But I knew she were a beautiful creature
As my unbidden imagination shew me a portrait of her;
Of a fine lady garbed in raiment of jeweled promises.
Then, I finally got to her
My hands already reaching,
Moving towards the dark mass that made up her face
But even in that short distance between us,
I couldn’t reach her.
“Come…” She whispered again
As her image became blurry
And she gently fades away before the glares of a rising sun
And I was jolted awake to the horror
Of a shadowed face hovering above mine and then…
I screamed.
