prologue : the sleeper

in my dreams, the sleeper smiles, and the sun crawls out into the mid-winter sky, its veil of wispy gray clouds slowly easing away.

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it hits me then, like a knee to the chest, the utter force of that smile. I haven't seen it in an unforgettable time, and yet...I still manage to forget its brightness.

we sit on a grassy knoll, the sleeper and I, and we say nothing. there's nothing to say, even though an explosion simmers deep within me. I would let this tirade loose, but I can't.

it's not that I don't know what to say; I just don't have any words at all. talking exhausts me. my tongue sits useless, without a point, frozen in my mouth.

so we just sit, and for a short time, we can pretend that it is enough. but as the silence goes on, dragging heavier and heavier as the sky darkens, the sleeper's smile slips away, much like the clouds it brushed away before. the sky is swallowed up in anger, and so is the sleeper.

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this I never forget, no matter how hard I try.

"Please," I want to scream, "Please just say something!"

but I can't, and neither can the sleeper. we're one and the same, aren't we?

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when I wake up, the sleeper stares back at me through the mirror, tousled hair and hollow eyes. just a finger tip away, but still inexplicably out of reach.

the sleeper isn't here. he hasn't been for a long time.

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I've officially begun edits/rewriting draft 1 of those left behind! of course, since I'm currently in school, I can only edit if I have the free time (which is like 30 minutes every Wednesday lol) but I'm so happy to be working on this project again. I've missed it so much, and rereading what I wrote this summer is very encouraging somehow. there's still a long way to go, but I've got a good start! wish me luck! <3