In the dream I’m throwing on my pack and walking into the wilderness, and Allie is standing at the trailhead, crying and telling me not to go. I kiss her on the cheek and tell her it will be okay. But she doesn’t stop crying. That’s when I realized I was lying facedown in the dirt and it wasn’t crying but cursing that was coming from behind me. Allie was pacing the far side of the camp and swearing. I’d fallen asleep at my post. Yup, that was it. I hadn’t been attacked. I hadn’t been conked on the head by a sap. I’d simply fallen asleep. Still, my noggin felt like a smashed pumpkin and my shoulder burned as if sand had worked its way under the skin. All my joints protested with the smallest movements, and even breathing was excruciating. Other than that I felt fine. Allie paced her way over to stand beside me. “Barr,” she said. “You fell asleep.” “Yeah, I gathered.”
