The old woman’s eyes flew open and she sat up, quickly, despite her feeble limbs. She was soaked with sweat and her legs were tangled in the thin sheets of her king sized bed. She tried to remember where she was, or rather, who she was, because, for some reason, the dream that had just awoken her was the only thing she could grasp. Her brain was in a fog that could not be cleared. It had been that way forever, or thats how it seemed. She slowly brought her legs to the side of the bed and got up. The old woman grasped her walker that stood against the bedside table and glided to the mirror where she stopped to look herself over.

The first thing that she noticed, was that she was only half dressed for bed. She still had on a blouse and pearls along with her silk pajama bottoms. She brought her hands up to her hair, it looked much different than it was in her dream. It was gray and ugly now, but in her dream she was young and beautiful.

She had bright blue eyes and strawberry blonde curls that cascaded all the way down to the small of her back. A man with black hair and pumpernickel skin kissed the top of her head as they sat on a blanket looking up at the stars. It looked as if the sun had just set because the sky was still a bit light at its tips. A little boy with the same dark hair came up to them smiling a wonderful smile and shouting, “Look mom! I caught a firefly!”

The old woman paused to ponder these words. Who is this little boy! Is he my son? And the man… is he my husband? He sure is handsome. Oh! I wish I could remember. I seem so happy there. Now I am sad and old. She looked into the mirror once again and studied her wrinkled skin. She had crow’s feet by her eyes and her hands were almost transparent. Her nails were chipped and her ankles were swollen. She thought back to her dream.

The man had said a name. What was it? she thought. He had leaned over to look into the boys tiny hands and watched the firefly let off its chartreuse light. He called out to the young lady, “ Juliette! Come see this. It is quite beautiful.” He spoke with a slight italian accent. Juliette. Is that my name. Well… it is pretty.

Juliette turned around and looked at the grandfather clock that stood tall in the corner diagonal to the bed. The moon illuminated its face and the hands showed 2:30. Two thirty! she thought, I must get back to bed. So, she slowly walked back to the bed and rested the walker against the nightstand. She climbed into her bed and was instantly overcome with exhaustion. She fell to sleep amid thoughts of stars and little hands. In the morning she awoke, with no memory of the events that happened the night before. As she came into full awareness, she did not recollect anything about her previous life, and her brain was once again subdued in the tortured mist that held her captive.