Amnesia And Menace

Footsteps outside her front gate on the night of the storm.
The shifting shadows darkening the pathway on the walk back to the cottage.
The timer switch adjusting position in the early hours of yesterday morning.
The call from the woman objecting to her living in the town.

The thick rural darkness.
Dead silence.

Rolling onto her side, she reaches for the pillow and presses the cool fabric against her face.

For a long time, she lies like this, listening to the steady rhythm of her breathing, longing for sleep, yet dreading it in case she remembers in her dreams.