Red

     It was cold. Colder than he thought it should be. For all he knew the packed dirt beneath him could be snow. Not that it mattered now. He wouldn't feel cold for long. But still, it was distracting. And that was bad. He was supposed to be thinking about something important. But his mind was getting so fuzzy...

     He blinked slowly, head turning to the side as he lay in the dirt. The dirt was the wrong color, and that was distracting too. Red, very red. He vaguely remembered it being a different color but the name was slipping away. And anyway, it was getting too hard to keep his eyes open. He decided to close them. The insides of his eyelids were red too. Red. What a funny color.

     He tried to focus on what it was he was supposed to be thinking about. It was important. Special, too. And really beautiful. He thought it had something to do with the red. He wondered if it would be red where he was going. Where was he going, anyway? He hoped it wouldn't be cold there. He was so tired of cold.

     A girl. It had something to do with a girl. Not a big one, either. Very small. And red hair, that's where the red came from. What was her name... It was so very important he remember her name...

     He was so tired. It was hard for him to stay awake. Come to think of it, he couldn't remember why it was he had to stay awake in the first place. Maybe he would take a nap. Just a little one. He could remember his daughter's name when he woke up.

     Wait, that was it. His daughter. So that was why it was so important to stay awake. He tried to open his eyes but couldn't quite remember how to do it. And it was starting to go black anyway. He wanted to hold onto the red for just a little longer. Just until he could figure out what her name was.

     He was just so sleepy...