In and out of it...

I lay in bed for what seemed like hours............. drifting in and out of consciousness....... thinking.......... praying........ making 'to do lists'........ listening to Dee breathe........ thinking in Irish....... thinking about my hurting leg......... wondering why I can't sleep........ and then listening to the silence of the room.......... it was then that I heard an all too familiar sound........ the downstairs kitchen door squeak......... but then sounds of hard shoes on the tile floor................... .................. my heart raced............ Someone has broken into our house!................ I instantly began to sweat................ and without thinking I jumped from the bed, ran out of the bedroom and into the hall........... as I reached the top of the stairs I began screaming out at the top of my voice, "HEY!........ HEY!!!! ...................... ........................... at that exact moment I heard Dee's tired voice quietly say, "Wallace.... it is ok.... you are dreaming... it is ok ...........". At the same time that she said this I became very aware of the fact that sleet and hail were pelting the bedroom window.... and that I was laying in the exact position I had been in when I heard the sounds downstairs............ Dee told me that I had been yelling, "HURRY.....HURRY....". I laid there in the bed.... pulse racing... for a long time........ listening to the rain and hail....... Thinking about the fact that I had fixed the squeaky kitchen door almost two years ago........... wondering if I had really been dreaming........... and waiting to hear footsteps again..................... Thankfully, i never did............