Waking Up Blind

Written on September 22, 2000, this vignette was inspired by the line from a Rick Springfield song: “waking up blind with the house on fire.”

“I had that dream again,” he said. “I wake up, sitting bolt upright, but I cannot see. First, I hear the crackles, taunting me like a sadistic bowl of Rice Crispies. Then I feel the heat as the sounds of screams finally reach my ears. My stomach clenches and it feels like I have an acorn in my belly. My face hurts so I raise my hand to brush my cheeks. The skin on my fingertips is rough and I can feel my fingers growing longer and knarled. Now I can feel my legs and toes growing, breaking through the floor in search of earth in which to root. The bed I’m in breaks through the floor and I start falling. I wake up screaming. What does it all mean?”