Flickers and Flames - Chapter 5: Dreams and Nightmares (Part 2)

Part 2 (of 2) of the fifth chapter...

4

George awoke - sticky with sweat. He untangled himself from his blanket and stood up from the chair, breathing in the cool dawn air. The sun wasn’t up yet, but it would be soon. The sky was brightening near the horizon, and George could already hear the usual clamor of morning traffic in the distance.

He stayed outside a few minutes more, reflecting on the vividness of his dream (and massaging a slight cramp in his right leg). He remembered the wind, the water, the autumn leaves and how they rustled. He remembered the stream, and how it trickled down from the hill.

But mostly he remembered the heron and how it stood in the sand, statuesque and enormous. How there were rocks, unbelievably flat and smooth, arranged around its feet. How it stared at him. Into him.

How it almost opened its wings.