I am floating here, amidst the waves of sensation and thought. I do not know where I am. I only know that I am here. This place has no name that I know of. It is merely the place in which I am. I think I've been here for a long time now, but I'm not sure of how to measure such passage. My mind seems to wander often. Lazily drifting from one image to the next. Never quite knowing what is real and what is imagined. It's as though I've been asleep for a very long time, and have forgotten how to awaken.

"Tim?" A soft voice is whispering as though from a great distance.

"Timothy?" Again, only a bit louder now. More real.

"Earth to Timothy! Hello!?" It's coming through clearly now. It's a woman's voice, and one that I somehow know I must answer.

My eyes are fluttering open warily, taking in the scene around me. I'm sitting on a couch, warm and comfortable. And there's a woman sitting next to me. She's beautiful. Not just attractive, but magnetic. Her face seems very familiar to me. As though I should know her. As though I can't imagine not knowing her.

"Did you call me?" I ask in a bewildered voice.

"Yes, silly. You were falling asleep. And this is the best part of the movie. I didn't want you to miss it." She replied in the same sweet voice that was calling me earlier.

I turn my head towards the center of the room, and allow my eyes to focus on a glowing box of color and noise. Oh yes, it's a television. That word just popped into my head. And this woman wants me to watch something that's being displayed on it. I concentrate for a moment, and the images sharpen and come into greater focus for me. I can make out the image of two people on the screen now. A man and a woman. Both are attractive for their respective gender, and seem deeply interested in one another. They're standing quite close together, and they're saying something.

For a moment, I can't hear their voices. But a bit more concentration brings their words into focus for my ears, the same way the pictures became more clear to my eyes. I can hear them just fine now. They don't seem to be arguing, or having much of a discussion at all. Instead, they seem to be making romantic overtures to one another. Phrases such as "can't live without you", and "don't ever leave me", seem to be the order of the day. Their like is peppered quite heavily throughout the dish of their dialogue. I find it rather boring and pedantic. But strangely, the lovely woman beside me seems to be quite moved by it. It must hold some sort of special meaning for her. Something I just don't see.

I turn my head back and focus my attention on her once again. I notice a small tear slipping down the curve of her cheek. For some reason, seeing that bothers me. Although I can't imagine why. Instinctively, I reach over and use my finger to stop the tear's downward journey. The woman notices and looks back at me. There is warmth in her eyes. It makes my chest tighten for a moment, as though something deep within me is responding to her. But I can't put a name to what it is.

"Why are you crying?" I ask in curiosity.

"Oh, you know me, hon. I'm always a sucker for this movie. We must have watched it a hundred times, and it never fails to get to me. I just get so caught up in the story. It's so sad... ," Her voice drifts off toward the end and she turns her gaze back to the events on the screen.

"Sad? Why is it sad?" I ask, befuddled. But before she can reply, I feel myself slipping away again. My vision begins to cloud over and it feels as though I'm slowly falling down and away from my body and the events surrounding it. And suddenly, I'm back here again. The place that has no name. I feel like I'm floating in water, but nothing is wet. Like I'm flying, only with no wind or movement. I merely drift, and all that just transpired begins to waft and fall apart. I'm suddenly having trouble remembering what I saw on the television screen. And the things that woman said to me as well. It's all becoming quite hazy now. And I begin to wonder if it was real at all.

I try to move my arms, but nothing happens. It's not that I feel paralyzed. There's no frustration that might result from being tied down. There's just simply no visible result that would correlate with my effort. I can feel my arms. I'm certain they're here. But no matter how much I focus, I can't seem to make them do anything. It's a very odd sensation. In my confusion, I try to move my head so that I might look at my arms. But I can't seem to do that either. All I can see is the floating mist of colors and haze that seems to perpetually hang before my eyes.

"Darling?" It's her voice again, soft and distant. I almost didn't hear it this time.

"Honey, wake up... ," Her melodic voice is a bit louder and more clear now. It's coming through to me crisply.

I can feel something gently nudging my side, and it brings me to full awareness again. It's her hand. Small and slender. She's softly prodding me with her fingers to wake me up. I can feel a bed beneath me now. I'm nude, and lying beneath warm covers. The woman is beside me in the bed. She's the one who was calling me. For some reason, that tickles my memory, and I wonder if she's called me before. She seems very familiar.

"Hello." I vocalize my wakefulness.

"Hey, sleepy head. I thought you'd never wake up. I wanted you to hold me. I had a bad dream." She seems so small and fragile next to me. She's huddled very close, and I can tell that she's not wearing any clothes either. Her eyes look anxious. Something in her sleep frightened her. I feel a twinge in my chest. Is that sympathy? Compassion, perhaps? Her distress seems to bother me a great deal.