She’s Just As In The Dark As You Are

(I’m relaxing at home after a brief hospital stay for surgery. My mother has come up to look after me, as I’m single and live alone, and has — as is her habit — fallen asleep on the sofa-bed. I’m sitting on the non-bed portion of the sofa, casually reading in silence, and am just starting to think about going down for a nap myself when she rolls over and sits bolt upright, looking at me with vacant, glassy eyes.)

Mum: “They’re coming.”

Me: *more than a little shocked* “Who’s coming?”

Mum: “The dark people. They’re coming.”

(She then rolled over and went straight back to sleep. No nap needed; I stayed very, very awake for the rest of the day. She professed no memory of the conversation once she woke up but I definitely remembered it for quite a while.)