ABSTRACT
As the train rattled against the rails, it jolted Diasporra out of sleep.
It didn’t matter, since her sleep lately was replete with nightmarish
scenes and haunting bouts of insomnia. She tugged on the old fleece
blanket she had wrapped around herself in a vain attempt to ward
off the chilly feeling of dread and terror that seemed to seep into
her soul. Looking at the blanket a twinge of melancholy pervaded
her and a sad smile briefly illuminated her face. Almost 10 years ago
her mom used to wrap herself in this same fleece blanket as she lay
on the bed. The fleece blanket to which her mom clung, tighter and
tighter every day, as her breathing became shallower and shallower
and her life slipped away. Diasporra recalled how themom she knew
and her love were transformed before her eyes into a human husk
whose spirit was ravaged by cancer. Had her mom begun to view
the fleece blanket as a shield, a magical protective armor against the
hordes of malignant cells that had invaded her body?
