Darkness It's dark, not pitch but dark enough to know its night. I lay still feeling the rhythmic beating of my heart, my breathing seeming somewhat laboured. Drip drip drip I hear outside my window the rain has stopped for now, but she'll be back. A car drives past my window it's tyres clearing a path in the standing water on the roads surface. It's quiet again, not quite, the sound of traffic in the distance echoing out a gentle pulsing tone that's somehow soothing. Wondering who is going where? A lorry carrying it's load, a bus with most seats empty, a taxi driving to and from the destination asked for. For right here right now it all seems so silent but if we listen beyond ourselves beyond our walls, the world outside keeps turning. Never completely coming to a halt, slowing yes but stopping no. My heartbeat has eased now gentle slowing to her night time rhythm. My breathing too has mellowed, allowing me to relax to a different place. Somewhere deep inside my thoughts to a place where all is quiet and peaceful, at least for now. The drip drip outside my window has stopped making the silence seem almost amplified. Until another car drives by, tyres splashing in the wet. So now it is sleeps gentle hand that brushes across my face, beckoning me to give in to my tiredness and close my heavy eyes. Time to give in I think, and drift off to my happy place.