“Shankelly brazen, torson black. Wings of ivory, head of a cat. Spirits of nightshade, all to come. Shafts of lightning, bear me on!”

Rising, turning, faster and faster, the sheets stretching out into translucent wings, through the window and out into the night. Not cold, not hot, no wind, the earth flashing below, further and further away.

First a silence deep as dying, the stars wrapped around my head like a twilight blanket. Then deep, whispering music, coming from everywhere and nowhere, seeming to rise and fall in my head and heart.

And dammit, then I fell out of bed!