Ch 34: The Waking Reality

Tasha.

Her name was the last thing Calder had thought before slipping into an endless, dreamless, nothingness, and it was the first as his thoughts returned.

It was like a thick blanket was being pulled from his mind. It had muffled everything, but now, he felt vulnerable and exposed.

He tried to remember what had happened before the vast emptiness, but everything was fuzzy.

Tasha.

That was the one thing he knew.

Her name brought an ache to his heart.

But why?

That word was the one thing that had brought him joy, had comforted him in times of despair. Why now did it feel as if despair and her name were synonymous with each other?

He needed to open his eyes. Once he was awake it would all make more sense.

He didn't remember falling asleep though.

In fact, his memories all seemed jumbled and confused. What had happened? He knew he had spent the night making love to her, and then he had had to leave her. But that wasn't why he felt so hopeless. He had for a time, but Errant h