“I didn't mean to, honestly, Angela. I'm sorry I woke you. It was just a ... a dream,” she finished feebly, looking at the sleepy hostile faces. She lay down and shut her eyes tightly. The light clicked off. As soon as the room was quiet once more she sat up, her hands clasped round her knees. I won't go back to sleep, she vowed. Not to that.

She fell asleep the next night as soon as her head touched the pillow. And the dream was back. There was the same sense of falling, of being trapped in a place from which there was no escape. Then there was ice cold water in her mouth and nose. She fought to keep her head up for what felt like hours, and woke, tangled in bedclothes, with Angela standing over her.

“Two nights in a row! That does it. I'm going to tell a Healer so we can get some sleep around here.”

“Please, Angela, don't make a fuss. I’m fine. I won't wake you up again, honest I won't.”

“Will you come with me, or do I have to fetch a Healer here?”

“I’ll come. I’ll come.” Ruth hunted under her bed for her slippers. She couldn't find them anywhere. Her dressing gown was halfway down the room, as if someone had thrown it, and she tripped over her pillow on the way to the door.

'' Oh, come on. ''

“I am. I can't find my slippers.”

Angela grabbed her arm and dragged her through the door.

“Ouch, ouch!”

“What's the matter now?”

“Stubbed my toe.”

Angela sighed. “Ruth, you are a mess. When are you going to get yourself together? In less than five months it's going to be New Year. Look at your clothes, at your bed. No wonder you can't find anything.”

“I didn't make that mess, honestly. It was perfectly tidy when I went to bed. And you're hurting!” She pulled her arm away and walked along the corridor ahead of Angela.

THE Healer was very kind. Of course they were always kind. “You'd better spend the rest of the night in a cubicle here.”

Ruth drew back. “I'd rather not go to sleep again.

Couldn't I just sit up and read a book?”

“It was that bad, eh? Why don't you tell me about it?”

But when Ruth had described the nightmare all the Healer said was, “Why, that's quite a common dream. I expect it's just a remnant of your birth memory surfacing from your subconscious...”

“But it was terrifying. I thought I was going to die. Being born is beautiful, isn't it?”