Michael went to bed also, and lay awake about a couple of minutes, not thinking, but only being, while the owls hooted outside.
He awoke into complete consciousness, knowing that something had aroused him, even as three days ago when the telephone rang to summon him to his mother's deathbed.

Then he did not know what had awakened him, but now he was sure that there had been a tapping on his door.

And after he had sat up in bed completely awake, he heard Petsy give a little welcoming bark.

Then came the noise of his small, soft tail beating against the cushion in the chair.
Michael had no feeling of fright at all, only of longing for something that physically could not be.

And longing, only longing, once more he said: "Come in, mother." He believed he heard the door whisper on the carpet, but he saw nothing.
Only, the room was full of his mother's presence.