Still I Slept

The traffic was loud. Car wheels slapped the pavement like wrestlers hitting the mat. Still I slept. The neighbors were partying. Empty beer cans hit the trash can like bullets ricocheting off a target. Still I slept. The rain fell after midnight. Hailstones battered metal awnings like raucous music by angry musicians. Still I slept. Dreams turned into nightmares. The strawberry patch at Fergus Falls looked like blood surging from a gashed flesh. Still I slept. Dawn pressed against the window. The light shone golden like a silent cascade of tiny coins. Still I slept. The early hours were fragrant. Morning spread itself across the landscape like a soft blanket of transparent green. Still I slept. Unexpectedly two great eyelids closed. No promises were kept, no expectations, met. Hope stopped, love never began. I awoke.