You used to hear that all the time, "We'll be right back after a word from our sponsors." Do they still say that? 

Did a "Dexter" marathon last night, a mini-crunch, four episodes on a Netflix disc, then drifted into television land while I read. So a quick word about our sponsors, the movie, "Abe Lincoln, Vampire Hunter".  See, in my mind and posts, I transformed Abe Lincoln into a zombie hunter. I don't understand how and why my synapses mis-fired and plugged in zombie for vampire but I apologize if I misled anyone. Vampire hunter makes a lot more sense than zombie hunter, although the romantic in me prefers our sixteenth president as a zombie hunter. 

I fell into a sudden and deep hard sleep last night just south of midnight, while seated at my desk. I dreamed...and I don't know what I dreamed.  I do know that sometime after beginning the dream or ending it, I thought, I'm not sleeping, I've changed states. From what state to what state? I don't know that but I knew as I thought it, this is the state I wanted. This is the state I needed.

That's all I remember. I awoke, the television was on. I moved to the recliner, pulled out a throw and continued sleeping. Lady the cat joined me, then Scheckter and Quinn. "Three cats will visit you this night...." Well, of course; this is no different from other nights. 

I slept very deeply, awoke at 6 and began writing a short story, "Purpose". Giving up living, these creature established a hive mind dedicated to finding and contacting intelligences on other worlds across the galaxy. They'd grown, tracking genes and capabilities, breeding themselves until they fully realized their abilities. Drones attend the Minders as the Minders sought other worlds and intelligence.

And they succeeded. Through mind energy, they breached time and distance and traveled from galaxy to galaxy, system to system, world to world learning of others, doing so for billions of years. Having acheived their dream, they're done. They no longer have a driving purpose. Two argue: let's start again - why? The creatures take up sides. Squabbles escalate and violence begins but the stop themselves. They have a new purpose, trying to decide what to do next. First they organized into hive minds, dividing their resources to become several hive minds, attacking a common problem with each hive mind organizing to solve it.

The first draft is almost done but I don't know how happy it makes me. Seems too derivative. I'll keep toying with it.