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Invasion

TERRY BLACK

My EYES find darkness everywhere. The air around me is opp~es-
sive with the darkness. I reach for something firm, something
definite, in this darkness. Nothing meets the frantic thrust of my
hands. I grope desperately until I realize that I am covered by some-
thing other than air. I pull at this covering, almost clawing at it in
my desperation. At last I succeed in tossing it aside. I am free to
move and to search for the sound that is still clanging harshly.

I must find solid ground to walk on. My feet swinging in the
dark touch something cold. My first impulse is to draw them back
under that covering, but the shrill clanging sound seems to increase
in loudness with each passing moment. I touch the cold ground again.
This time it does not seem so cold. Perhaps I can stand on my feet
and then walk through the darkness toward that sound.

. My first step is an awkward one. I find myself incapable of taking
another. The darkness is pushing down on my eyelids. They will not
stay open. I shake myself; I try another step and another. Soon I am
walking, but I am not getting any closer. It is getting fainter as I
walk forward. I turn around and retrace my steps. Suddenly I can
go no farther. My knees have hit an obstacle, a low obstacle, that
goes neither higher than my knees nor lower. However, the clanging
sound is much louder than before. I can hear it well. It must be in
front of me, but how can I reach it?

I am almost ready to give up; then from somewhere comes a faint
ray of light. From somewhere comes another sound, the sound of
music. It grows louder, until it almost drowns that shrill persecutor.
The ray of light illuminates the oppressive darkness enough so that
I can barely see a bed before me. The clanging sound seems to be
coming from the pillow! Under it, shrilly ringing, is my alarm clock!
That's right, my alarm clock!

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