10:25 P.M.
I slipped between a thin summer sheet and the mattress, wearing nothing more than a pair of thigh-tight briefs. Although I did try to stay awake, I couldn’t. Exhaustion called out to me, and I followed its soothing voice into an abyss of dark sleep.
Dreams were undiscovered, though. Instead, I floated in nameless time and space, deep in the mysterious folds of my sleep. Unconsciousness and numbness controlled every part of my body. The nothingness of that dreamless world acted soothing, relaxing, enjoyable, and unlimited until…
A blast of copious heat against my left arm yanked me out of sleep, and the strong scent of smoke filled my nostrils. Alert like a Roman sentry protecting his daughters from horny gladiators, I sat up in bed. Pushed into a state of confused panic, I be
