“No please don’t! I can’t! I can’t! No!!!!!” She screams suddenly. More like a shriek.
I shook her awake. She’s sobs into my chest. “Another dream? Of that time?”
She clings to my yukata and barely nods. I kiss the top of her head softly. I can’t tell her it wasn’t real. It was and to this day she bears the burden of that day. I pull her up to sit on my legs and cradle her, entwining her fingers in mine. I won’t ask her to sleep. She might dream again.
“Shhh…” I cup her chin to face me, “Those days are long gone. It doesn’t matter.” What matters is today.