Here I am
lost in the light of the moon

-Afterglow, INXS


While he wasn't happy to discover he wasn't the only person with insomnia he couldn't help but feel slightly relieved. It was as if knowing that someone else's thoughts or dreams or nightmares were also inescapable made the fact that his were a little more normal. And being normal was something he was afraid he'd lost sight of.

But when she realized he was there and turned towards him, he saw it all in her eyes. It was there when she lifted a hand to stifle a gasp. Someone had told her, had told her the whole thing. He felt his insides burn, and for a moment he thought he would run away back to his cold bed and incessant nightmares. Instead he accosted her with words.

"What are you doing here?"

"I. . . I couldn't sleep." She seemed to struggle voicing her thoughts and her eyes were glossy in the moonlight. And then he knew why she couldn't sleep, just as she now knew that he didn't sleep. He was silent and sullen and began to turn away when she spoke again.

"I meant it."

"What?"

"When I said I would try to heal it. In the cave. I could still try. . ." He finished turning away, leaving her offer at his back and shook his head. Before she offered anything else he left, wondering how he had refused, why he had refused. And he knew, back behind him, she probably understood why more than he.