There was good news all around, but Kyle had fallen into a deep slumber, something that had eluded him for much of his adult life. In the past, he didn't enjoy sleeping because peace of mind was a luxury he never seemed to have. His demanding job always required him to wake up at odd hours, leaving little room for true rest. Yet now, lying on his soft mattress, his body gave in, though his mind was far from quiet.
He dreamed—a strange and unsettling dream that felt vivid in a way most dreams did not. Kyle couldn't place the location or the scene, but he found himself as a seven-year-old child, standing in the middle of an abandoned playground. The swings swayed gently as if moved by a phantom breeze, but there were no children, no cars, no sign of life anywhere.
This place felt oddly familiar, even though Kyle had no recollection of ever being here. In the dream, though he was in the body of a child, he retained the consciousness and perspective of his adult self.
