It was one of those happy, awful accidents. That wasn't supposed to be one of the side effects. And where am I? Lying sweetly on the couch, trying to slip out of my body with little to no success. Little to no effort as well. Whispers begin to fill the hall, hitting a crescendo near the main room, which hides out of sight to the left. These sounds aren't menacing, but they feel indecent, should I be hearing this? Though they remain quiet, my ears pick up a cacophony. Suddenly I am overwhelmed - this is not right. If someone were to chance into here and see this scene, this tableau of me, lying motionless - awake - listening to noise I am not entitled to hear....

And the idea overtakes me. The fear that I will be caught in this act of perhaps not voyeurism, but something more sinister. "It's not me!" I want to shout, "I'm stuck here! It's all I can do but to move!"

And I'm right. I could go outside, but there are people out there. Being with people at this point is intolerable. Everyone else has melted away into corners and rosebushes. I am on the couch like an overheated waif, desperately waiting to come back to my senses.

But I do not. A deep blue light emanates from somewhere, but it does not calm me. It doesn't chill me, the contrary is evident. I am stuck to this leather. Someone will find me, and the humiliation, the distrustful accusations and arbitrary defense on my part, will be enough to break me. I will never recover. I can't breathe.

I can't breathe; that must be it. This is my reality. I feel a couch. This is no couch though, not really. This is a gurney. I must be hospitalized, right now, at this moment. I am stuck in the passage of time, right before I lost all sanity and they took me away. I could reach them, if only I could trick my mind into ceasing its tricks on me.

And when stars begin to burst, and whales begin to drift in a lazy way, I am aware. Someone else is now an inanimate part of the furniture as well. No pointed fingers or baleful glares. I try to articulate those sounds, as though to make light, to show I'm not trying to listen.

We both just say nothing.