Unwanted Gift

Stuart Hart awoke to find that he was floating alongside the couch. His eyes were wide open. Their view --- the ceiling. The bright bulb caused his pupils to constrict - everything was delicately sharp. He was lying on his back - torso - legs - arms - head - all in one plane, as if someone or something had pulled the couch out from under him, but the couch had not moved. It was still in its place against the wall. Stuart Hart had moved! He was suspended in space. During his sleep, the sentinel of consciousness had failed to detect some force that changed him. Something had insinuated itself into his body. The sensation of self or solidity was gone. Did he still exist? Had he died in sleep? Was he now in transition from body to spirit? Deliberately, he moved one hand towards his face, fearfully expecting not to see that hand, nor to feel his face when he touched it. He was still there - a body with physical properties.