 And the blackness. And the quiet. They seemed to be smothering me. And then... And then I heard it. At first I didn't know what it was. I wasn't frightened. I just didn't know what it was. George's watch, of course. The little pocket watch he'd loaned me in my handbag on the bedside table. How silly. They sound so loud in an empty room at night. I snapped on the light.