22/09/2026
LET ME SLEEP
“This is now our world,
I love the colours we used,
they attract a happily ever after”
He affectionately embraced me
I felt my blood stir beneath my skin,
as though happiness had finally found
a place to settle inside me
I looked around, mesmerised
by everything we had created,
and for once,
I was not afraid of what came next
I wanted that moment to outgrow the night,
to slip beyond the reach of morning,
to become a life we could actually keep
then someone called my name
I heard it faintly,
as though the voice belonged to another world
I refused to answer
I wanted to stay
but the voice came again,
closer this time,
and everything began dissolving beneath me
his arms loosened,
the colours blurred,
and our little world began retreating
into the darkness from which it came
I opened my eyes
the room was still,
but the life I had just been living was gone
for a moment,
I remained suspended between two realities,
trying desperately to find my way back
I closed my eyes,
hoping the dream had left a door ajar
but there was nothing
no colours, no embrace,
no happily ever after,
only the cruel realisation
that sometimes a dream gives your heart
exactly what it longs for,
then wakes you before you can keep it
Constance K Zhakata