It’s two o’clock in the morning on a hot summer’s night.  I’m lying naked in bed, half beneath a white cotton sheet.  Moments earlier, a cool rush of air through the open bedroom window had sent the curtains rippling out into the room, prompting my awakening.  I lie in a state of semi-consciousness, staring up at the ceiling.  The room is shadowed in darkness, except for a ray of moonlight piercing a chink in the fabric of the drapes, striking the wall opposite.  The gentle breeze from the window ebbs across my body, and I feel a sense of well-being.

 

Suddenly, the curtains billow again and fill the room.  I turn to look, and the image of a young woman’s face appears within the folds of swirling linen.  I watch, transfixed, as she glides into the room, veiled by the curtains, the outline of her body unfolding before my eyes.  Using her hands, she weaves a path through her snare and sets herself free. Rising high, she circles the bed, and I view her in all her splendour for the very first time; a translucent figure with long dark hair and a slender body, robed in what appears to be a cream satin gown.  She continues to roam about the room in a shark-like manner, her hair and dress flailing wildly in the turbulence.  I’m captivated by her presence, yet frustrated as I struggle to focus on her enchanting smiling face.  I long for her to pause a while, enough to allow me a moment to digest her beauty.  She appears to read my mind, unexpectedly hovering above me for ten, maybe twenty seconds.

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Without doubt she’s everything I desire; there’s little doubt that she knows it too.

 

In a swift, graceful action, she dives down towards me, stopping inches from my face.  With a ghostly outstretched hand, she motions to caress my forehead.  We stare knowingly into each other’s eyes, and I’m unable to stop myself from softly uttering her name…