The laugh That returned

"I dreamed about someone I knew who had died, but in the dream he was alive again. I knew he was supposed to be dead, but somehow that didn't seem strange at first. We were sitting in a room together, just talking like we used to. I kept looking at him because part of me couldn't believe he was really there. I wanted to ask him where he had been, but the words wouldn't come out. He looked a little younger than I remembered. At one point he laughed at something I said, and I remember feeling so relieved. It felt good just hearing his laugh again. Then the dream suddenly changed and we were walking outside. I was telling him about things that had happened since he died. He listened quietly, like he already knew about everything. Then I was suddenly back in the room by myself. His chair was still there, but he was gone. I remember thinking that I had somehow lost him a second time. I woke up feeling really sad and just lay there for a while."