I swam out of bed.

I was in such a pleasant dream, working with soft towels, shaping pieces of it just the way I wanted and then folding the pieces, and stacking them.  To my left someone else sat quietly working at the same task with me.  It was all very pleasant.  Then suddenly cool, dark water surged in from the right and filled up under me so that I was almost immediately buoyed up, overwhelmed.  In my left hand I held my stack of clean towels over the sloshing, dark water to keep them clean. I swam with my chin just above water, and dog-paddled myself right out of bed.  I awoke falling on my hip, my left knee, and both wrists which all still hurt.  I also still have a small, sharp headache by my right ear.  As so often in life, my dream had been very pleasant, and yet I was abruptly overwhelmed and hurt.  It makes me wonder what I might do differently.

I swam out of bed.

by Annmarie Throckmorton, copyright 2025