His Long Dream

'I can't remember my dreams anymore,' he says. The concern furrowed onto her face does a poor job of concealing itself. 'I'm not sure what that means.'

'You don't remember any of them?'

'Not a single one,' he says. 'Just the way they leave me feeling. Like an echo when I wake up. The contents, the details, are all lost.'

And so too are the worlds that are borne with them, she thinks, but cannot say. If he knew, well then that'd be the end of things. The end of this world, if he were to wake from his long dream.

Paddy Dobson

28th December 2021