3:39

The pounding on the door was insistent, anxious; it would not be denied. Solid metallic thumps on the security door thundering through the ebony stillness of the wee hours…adrenaline surging through every fiber of my being. I lurched up, all of my senses screaming to be left in their restive state, wrenching myself from the dream world and back into the real world.

I glanced at the clock on the nightstand, the bright crimson glow of its numbers mocking me mercilessly…3:39. Rats. It was just a dream.

My disorientation faded slowly as I sat up in bed. I listened for a moment…just in case it wasn’t a dream. The world was, of course, almost completely still…no pounding…and every housemate (two-legged and four-legged alike) still slumbering peacefully in their chosen sleeping places.

I shambled to the bathroom…darting apparitions, having followed me from the dreaming, played hide-and-seek behind me but I ignored them.

Yawning, I shambled back to the bedroom and tumbled back into bed…and then I lay there wide awake and praying to be accepted back into the dream world while every other housemate (two-legged and four-legged alike) continued to slumber peacefully in their chosen sleeping places.

The clock, taunting me with its impertinent crimson numbers (stupid clock), continued to mock me mercilessly: 3:48…4:09...4:17… 4:28...4:44…5:03…5:11...5:27. Until another distant thump echoed through the gathering lightness of the coming dawn. The newspaper was on the front lawn and I was awake on top of my bed.

Rats.

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