Sleep

I'm nearly gone. Clutched in the vice-like grip of Sleeps arms. Her embrace is endearing as she wraps around me, and pulls me further and deeper into the world she offers. A world with no boundaries. A world so much more pleasant that the one I currently inhabit. Her fingertips brush against my forehead, sweeping the hair from my eyes and sprinkling in the dust that keeps them closed. Her voice is soundless, yet I hear the sweet song of everlasting joy she has waiting for me just beyond the veil. Seconds away. I pine for her love, for her world. But somehow I am pulled away from her, by the furious hands of reality. Slapped by alertness that keeps me in tune with real surroundings, real noises, real thoughts. Oh, how I am tired of this! I ache to give into her. I curl closer against her, and refuse to open my eyes. I clean my head of thoughts that plague me enough during the waking day. They should not prevail over my heaven as well. Finally, I feel the release physically first, as my brain disconnects. My arms relax, my body becoming heavier somehow and sinking deep into the bed. My eyes relax from their forced close, and stay closed. The blackness fades away into a light as the veil is gently taken away. All sounds around me fade like the ending of a song, onto a new one. And my world beings anew. Oh, sleep. How I love you.