My dream...

I had the strangest dream last night. I was floating in nothingness, and then all these indescribeable colors swirled and flowed in front of me. Green, yellow, pink; white, turquoise, teal. Ultraviolet, antiyellow, ultrayellow, green. And then I was a bird -- an eagle, I reckon -- lying on the ground, with broken wings and an eye gouged out and my feathers torn and my flesh rent. Looming above me, a wolf snarled, saliva dripping from its fangs. It sniffed, growled deep in its throat, and lunged. I braced for the teeth in my flesh, for the snap of my spine, for the final flicker of pain that was my sorry life. But the wolf paused, gazed deep into my eye.

And then suddenly I saw myself -- the eagle -- in front of me, beneath my snout, unprotected, an easy kill.

And back to my nearly lifeless body, waiting for the final moment, waiting to die. The wolf lifted a paw, placed it on my exposed chest. A jolt. My heart pounded, my wings twitched. Flesh rewove itself, bones knitted, skin and fingers grew. Life surged throughout my body. I flexed my muscles, flapped my wings, stood up and looked the wolf in his huge yellow eyes. I nodded my unending gratitude. The wolf bowed his head, abashed. I flapped my wings, hopped forward, and launched myself upwards.

And that's when my damn alarm rang.