i woke up this afternoon to a thunderstorm.

i rolled over and fell back to sleep.

and my dream was big and beautiful and full of green.

i was on a quest. searching.

for her. but i dont know who she was.

and, at one point, i was deep in the woods. walking along paths to this old deserted town. one that the woods had swallowed. one that was haunted by memories and sentamentality. and my dog was with me.

just call him toto, though no witch was harmed in the making.

we passed these old plantation style houses. and my dog was pressed up into my leg, leading me. we walked to a green wagon/play house.

and stopped. without knocking, without any warning, i flung the door open.

and my dog yelped. and i jumped back. turned around. began running. yelling come on max, come here, good boy.

because there had been a black snake. just inside the door. that snapped at us.

and as we ran, him slightly behind me, i heard childrens laughter.

the kind of sound that on the wind you dont ever really know if you really heard or if it was just your mind overworking, overplaying with you.

we ran through the trees, down deer paths. and i jumped up, far above the top of the trees, to see, but saw nothing. and kept running. we passed the last house and in my head knew my dog would run to it, thinking he was home, but i couldnt let him stop. or else. or else.

and so he slowed down, but i kept running, and calling him.

we hit a dirt road. so i slowed down.

because town was near.

and there was a river deep within a valley right off the dirt road. and we walked to the bridge.

on the bridge were people.

one girl, in particular. her. she.

and somehow i got my hand behind her neck. and somehow we tumbled over, onto my back, her onto me.

i remember speaking. saying. i like this. her asking what. me saying her warm breath against my cheek like this.

then we had to get up. because we were being kidnapped. or taken somewhere. together.

and in my mind, and in the sky, i saw a flashback.

of this story. her story. how she believed that one love would be so strong that she was willing to risk everything, including her soul, to find it. how it made her young again.

she went her whole life without finding it. because she didnt believe. and when she was an old old woman she finally realized what she had been missing out. so she went to the witch doctor, who understood. and gave her a necklace. which made her young again.

she had one more life to try to find it.

love.

and it was almost too late. almost.

but i found her.

we walked, in front of these people.

and on the side of the road there was this baby rabbit. tiny tiny baby rabbit. with no mother. i looked, there was no mother. so i fell to the ground and was watching it.

remembering a time when a tiny cat was placed on my chest. one, also, orphaned. and i held my pinkie out because it was searching for food. it grabbed a hold of my finger with it's mouth. and i knew, then, that it would be ok.

and i wanted that rabbit to be ok.

soon after, i woke up.

to the thunderstorm still going.