Punky Fu

Lia heaved a heavy sigh of relief. After a long day of fighting, his hands were deftly easing the knots from her neck. The world had been shut out for the time being, and now it was their time to heal, replenish, and comfort each other.

It would be inaccurate to describe Lia as paranoid, but as of late, she felt plagued by an insidious doubt that 1) something was going deeply wrong with the world, 2) that she was being observed, and 3) that perhaps humanity had drifted so far off course from their original form that nothing was what it seemed any more. It would be easy to write off as garden variety guilt from living this far into the 21st century. Perhaps if those feelings weren’t so persistent she would be able to do so. At night, lying in the darkness, she would share her thoughts with him.

“But how do you know this is real?” she would ask. “What if this is all a dream?”

As a more than mere observer for the meta-physical, his answer was more whimsical: “Well, if this is a dream, it’s the best one I’ve ever had because I’m having it with you… and I don’t want to wake up.”

Perhaps she was momentarily mollified by this romantic sentiment. She proceeded straight back to existential wonderment. “But .. I want to know!” she would lament.

To the fullest extent of his ability to opine philosophically, he responded, “Well, I know two things: I will die someday, and I’m alive now. So I want to make the best of it.” He punctuated this sentiment with a soulful kiss.

Although far from satisfactory resolution, it was the best they could do in this realm of existence. Lying awake spooned in his arms as he snoozed softly behind her, her mind would turn the questions over and over. Eventually she would drift off to a fitful and dreamless sleep. Much of the time she spent hovering in the in-between - neither fully awake, nor fully asleep.

This night, however, as she lay drifting in and out of the spectral twilight of consciousness, Lia sensed another presence in the room. Lifting her head slightly and shifting her gaze, she could swear that the shadow in the corner was human-shaped. It had to be a trick of the light. But then again, light and shadow don’t form a head and shoulders…. or move like that…. And the sense of shrouded intelligence lingered.

She was alarmed initially - the sort of “what the hell?” startlement of being covertly observed. But quickly the alarm faded; she knew that the presence in the room wasn’t hostile. It was simply watching intently. In her mind, she asked it questions, trying to communicate. “What do you want? Why are you watching us?” The presence made no response, although its posture seemed to suggest surprise at being observed. It shimmered briefly and was gone. Was it a ghost? Was it someone trying to tell her something? There was simply no way to know.

But she knew one thing for certain: there, laying the arms of her lover, she was safe. Most people would’ve run screaming from the room and out into the night. Lia however, knew that she was protected and loved - and that was enough. She didn’t need to get up, or even wake him. She lay quietly back down on the pillow, adjusting for his arms about her, and drifted the current to sleep. Perhaps in the morning she might convince herself it was all a dream… and perhaps not.