Heart

Henrietta wanted a deep and undisturbed sleep, but she was afraid to remove the clockwork heart from her chest. Yes, of course, it would be safe and stable placed in the wall cubby - and, yes, it made perfect sense to remove the dust and grime (drama and grist) with a damp cloth and oil it back to glowing. "It's just that ... it's only that ...," Henrietta fretted looking down at the thing, still unresolved about disengaged the lead wires and letting battery backup do its thing until she could attach herself to the supplementary power port in the wall. " ... well, it's just a lot of bother," she muttered (chiding herself on a deep level for being lazy at the same time), " ... and there's always the threat that we might lose power." She wanted to dream without wanting, look but not quake with feeling, astral travel without anxiety, and all of it. All of it. Absolutely all. "Would you also like a pony and a crown of stars?" Henrietta's brain asked her then, unrelenting. "Oh, poo on you," she hissed, buffing the heart roughly against her sleeve and shoving it back into place for another round of Whatever Life Has In Store. Groaning and then sighing, she laid down and eventually allowed one eye to close.