

Lightening had begun to flash in the bedroom window with no audible thunder, that would come in due time.  The brightening room had awakened her only to remind her that it wasn’t time yet to get out of bed.  Slowly her mind grasped the concept that lightening was a harbinger of rain and open windows would eventually mean wet curtains which translated to drudgery.  Like an automaton, she began to pull back the bed sheets and limbs grappled over an edge struggling to find solid ground.  Light streaked into the bedroom again and cleaved momentarily to the dark shapes surrounding her.  Time crawled as did her body towards the opening between the night world and the world of slumber.  As she reached her destination, she realized that she was not alone.  A canine friend had also joined her.  Did he wake from the shadows or was he able to hear the distant echoes of clouds bashing one another?

The task completed, she now debated between slumber and releasing the hound to the night world before the onslaught of rain began to enable him to release his own torrent of rushing waters.  Again the choice between duty and requirements plagued her.  She decided to err on the side of caution and begin to make preparations for the journey.  The beast left her side and entered the still calm before the storm.  Another illuminating moment, this time with a crack of sound, the storm was getting closer.  Soon it would overcome both man and beast.  It is time, time to retreat.  A tug on a leash, a voice struggling over nature – a yelp is the reply.  Vague, but slowly the white fur comes into focus.  They both return from the night realm and into the safety of the dwelling.

Slowly, she ascends the wooden stairs – this time the creaks are drowned by the cacophony of outside tempest.  What price has she paid for following her duties, her responsibilities?  Will slumber abide by the rules?  Something at her heels, again a yelp.  

He knows better than to get between her steps.
Move.
I said get out of the way.
I know you understand me.
Step aside.  Down.
Down – sit.
Oh, whatever.

Continously creeping up the stairs.  Past the portal between the nocturnal realm and the bastion of slumber, past the fallen bed clothes and into a bed.  She lies there, calmly reflecting that there is now only a few hours until dawn brings new responsibilities to her.  It seemed as if a moment passed and now the gray light filtering into her room is being split by a sound that hurts her ears.  It cannot be muffled.  This sound is not associated with lightening and rain squalls.  It is the alarm signaling that her ease of slumber is to end.  But it is too soon.  She cannot bear the idea of being forced into a new task.  She has already completed many missions – even before her day truly began.  Slowly, the automaton pulls back the switch on the snooze button…


