fears in the night

L

Yumi sleeps fitfully sometimes.

She sees shadows looming over her then feels that she is dead and that all around her is an illusion. No-one can touch her or see her and she can feel nothing, only see.

Often she will wake in the early hours, sit upright and look about in a daze, most of the time with a light film of perspiration covering her face and body.

She tells me "Life is like a knife that takes pieces of me away when I sleep. One day maybe no more Yumi. All gone."

I cradle her and wish for the day she can feel secure enough to leave those feelings behind.