Danger awoke in a cold sweat as sheer panic and terror clutched him.
A stirring Dawn, sleeping beside him, switched the bedside lamp on, ensuring DM would not spend his suffering in the dark. She gently rubbed his tense shoulders.
Snuggles barged into the room, having heard DM's deafening scream, eager to see what was amiss.
"How many more times must I go through this?" screamed DM, seemingly to the cursed heavens.
"You couldn't have known what was going to happen that day, these things are out of our own control" Dawn replied, tenderly kissing on the cheek.
"One moment, that's all it ever really takes, a cruel moment that the intrusive corners of my own imagination homes in on and tries to make my every waking thought exclusively about it"
"My Dangerous friend...it's just a high score. Anyone can beat it. Snuggles could top mine tomorrow"
"You know what they say about tomorrow..." Snuggles joked.
"I'd only had Penfold beat for a week, why did you have to take such an interest in our gaming streams?"
"You were monetizing dear, a girl's gotta make some mint too" Dawn replied.
"You have millions in your pocket" DM pointed out.
"Funny, all I can find are little Pollys" Dawn remarked, giving DM another gentle kiss and wrapping her arms around him.
DM's mind, however, was drifting, afraid to fly, or fall. He thought back to a poem he once read
How far is it back up?
How far is it back down?
Why is my breath used against me?
What compels me to drown?
Evening comes, the tension builds
Will I make it through my sleep?
The dawn cracks open, I awake recharged
This life I shall again keep
Until the day they mend me
I am shackled, no longer free
And all those dreams I'm building
May be the last I'll ever see
