The dream was the same every night. Earth, leaving the ground and flying into the air. Flying on the wind and enveloped by flame and plunging into the cold, dark water.

He cried out when he woke, terrified that he was still below that water flailing uselessly. He cursed not learning to swim properly until he realized the water was his own cold sweat and the blankets he was tangled in.

He disentangled himself slowly, with mechanical precision. It was almost ritual now, to have that dream and have to peel the blankets away. Next would come the shower, a few simple exercises, a run, then a quick shower to get clean.

As the water cascaded over him he reflected on what a luxury it was to be able to have more than one shower a day. When he had been a child… no, when the world had been a child because he certainly could not remember ever being a child himself, things had been different. There had been a drought and water and food had been precious.

The sleeping form curled under the blankets shifted, trying to find him by the ghost of his body heat. He sighed and lay back on the bed. The blankets wrapped around him, enveloping his naked form. He relaxed and let it take him. Maybe drowning wouldn't be so bad after all.