In slumber I walked alone through a dark, cold forest, fearing all the things of the night. Faint rustlings in the underbrush; the cracking and falling of a dead tree branch; the snuffle-snuffle of some unseen creature, not far away. And the night dampness, falling over me, flowing over me, chilling me so that I shivered. And as an undertone to all of it, the near-silent, sinister sounds of careful footfalls, as though someone or something were stalking me. I had no weapon, no light to see by; I was alone and at my wit's end.
And then I awakened, and the sheets of the bed rustled as you turned to me. I took you in my arms; we did not speak, only embraced. The horrors of my dream world dissolved as ice melts in the glare of a mid-summer's day; and I spoke your name. And you spoke mine back to me.
I drifted back to sleep; this time to a bright spring day with the world alive with love and wonder. There was no more fear. There was only the two of us, walking along hand in hand, deeply, thrillingly in love.