The Dream And The Child Poem by Robert Hilary

I begin to stir, waking slowly from pleasant dreams.
Dreams of sunshine, dreams of laughter, dreams of friends.
The air feels cold, like razor sharp needles,
Consistently pricking over the surface of my skin.
Why was it so cold? I think to myself,
hands beginning to tremble slightly, as they rubbed my arms
a thought forms in my mind.
A persistent urge, to go outside, to leave the safe confines of my home.
I knew I should not,
I knew I should stay where I was, bury myself in the comfort of my blankets,
and fade back into the soundless sleep of pleasant dreams.
But I didn't. Instead I walked outside,
into darkness. A cold, empty darkness.
Nothing moved, nothing stirred.
There was no sound, the wind did not blow, the trees did not sway,
there was nothing to be heard, there was nothing there.
Just blackness.
I turn around to return to the familiar walls of my home,
only to find darkness akin to the one that lay before me moments ago,
than I was afraid.
I trembled, and I shook.
Fear gripped me by the throat, invading my heart, and my mind.
I became aware of the fierce cold once more, a deep cold,
that seeped into my flesh, and my bones, numbing my wits, and piercing my soul.
I felt naked, exposed to eyes I knew were not there.
And above all else, I felt alone, utterly alone.
I was ignorant of time. thoughts confusion, fear, and self-pity flittered within my mind, luring me into silent, prolonged despair.
Years may have past, centuries, millennia, ages.
But I was unaware of all but the lifeless mantel of cold,
which had settled around and within me,
engulfing the entirety of my being.
For reasons that cannot be explained, I awoke from my trance,
the chains of thought that had consumed my mind, crumbling into nothing.
And standing there, in the midst of the abyss,
surrounded by a shimmering mist, which pulsed with a faint, dead light,
was a child wearing rags of silver.
The child beaconed to me, calling me to it, to come closer.
Peace, tranquility, and a sense of belonging washed over me, the nearer I came,
still the child urged me on.
This comfort and sense of well being, which had been absent for so long,
felt foreign to me, it felt wrong. But still I moved forward,
approaching the child until the two of us were face to face.
I gazed into its eyes, and within them I witnessed things which were far beyond me, knowledge which the minds of men could not possibly contain.
In those eyes I saw things,
life, death, happiness, sadness, pain, suffering, joy, contentment, emptiness,
and behind it all, I saw the face of a child, a lonely face, expressionless of all emotion, the child swiftly placed two fingers upon my forehead, and smiled.
in the instant that followed, I thought I saw longing in those mysterious, unworldly eyes. And than… I saw nothing at all.
By R.C. Hilary written on the 25 of April 2008