Bed and Breakfast

[Arthur]

Laying next to the woman of my dreams, I wake to her screaming beside me.

No, she isn’t screaming, she’s screeching. The sound coming from her mouth reminds me of an injured animal, a frightened beast.

And it breaks my heart.

She is not the first I have ever cared for, but I have never cared for anyone as I care for her. Hearing her pain, my soul feels the pain along with her.

She begins to whimper, and tears slowly trickle from her eyes. Shaking her, I call out to her. “Faye, wake up Faye!” but there is no response. She continues to cry, to scream out in pain, tearing at her pillow with her fingernails piercing the fabric.

“What are you? Who are you?!” Faye continues to cry.

Pulling her tight to my chest, I wrap my arms around her, breathing in the scent of her hair. I begin to sing to her, a song my own mother used to sing, and I feel her relax against me, her body melting into my own.

“Fly me to the moon, and let me play beneath the stars…..”

Faye lets out a deep