the air was tight and dry, and her harsh breath rattled noisily in the gloom.

blackness all around, an envelope of nothingness upon vast swathes of now.

a brittle, arid and hollow feeling of oppression where the brain screams for

freedom in its metaphorical cell;

the mind so easily play tricks on itself when it knows not what;

and it sends out tendrils of angst throughout the body asking the other organs if they

have an idea of what is happening.

all these things are occurring at lightning speed whilst julie lay there, struggling to grasp

this reality whilst her own consciousness flapped like a sparrow in a mudbath.

the faint smell of burning entered her nostrils, the unmistakable smell of candles being extinguished.

the hum of voices, clapping, blowing swirled around her and she could almost feel the heat

of that party, until a tiny pinprick of light appeared somewhere in front of her, dancing with

gay abandon, violet and serene, knowing and malevolent.