A Galaxy of Short-Stories

Nightmare

I gazed up at the pitch black abyss that swallowed up my room after I turned out the lights. Sleep was intoxicating, but tonight it just felt wrong. I felt uneasy. It was probably just a sign of me getting sick, or maybe I was stressed about something. I normally don't feel this type of uneasiness, though, until after I have had a nightmare, woken up, and tried to fall back to sleep. I can never go back to sleep.

It's strange how my dreams that I've had over the past year have been mutating into dreadful nightmares. I would blame it on watching too many horror films if I had actually been doing that, but I haven't even thought about doing it, especially not after the nightmares I have been having. My dreams start out as random as anyone else's. They are surreal and confusing, but not at the time I am having them. After the whirlwind of images, my dreams become more tangible and connected. It felt real, and I felt fear. Apprehension suddenly became the element of my core. Goosebumps began to form, and I somehow always ended up in a bedroom that was completely different from my own. It wasn't always the same bedroom. However, the noise of the creature remained constant: a reminder that no matter how far I went, the beast was always on my heels.

It was just all in my head, though, right? Nightmares are just figments of our imagination. No big deal. Sighing, I repeated that in my head for awhile until the idea of sleep's comfort lured me in. I closed my eyes.

That's when I heard it. The sound of the beast.

My body jolted as my hands tightly clasped the sheets. I wasn't asleep. I didn't doze off. That wasn't real. It couldn't be.

I shakily stood up, straining my ears to hear that sound again. To make sure that I wasn't crazy. I did hear it, right? Surely not.

I got closer to the door, the carpet softly crunching underneath my feet. My breath was getting shaky. I stopped as I heard the screechy howl again. It sounded far away...distant. It wasn't all in my head this time. I heard another one, and it sounded a lot closer. It was here. Close. Should I go out and finally face this beast? Or should I hide? Let's persevere, I thought. I turned the knob carefully, and to reduce the squeak of the door, I jerked it open. 

I gasped. I woke up, panting. That was the most real nightmare I've had. I chuckled nervously, pulled the covers closer to my chest, and rolled over in bed.

Wait a minute...where am I?

The room I was in wasn't my bedroom at home. The furniture was in different positions. Positions that seemed oddly familiar. 

My heart stopped. I recognized this room. This is where it all began. I was in the bedroom that I had ended up in my first nightmare. What does this mean? Am I awake? Am I asleep??

What's happening???

My racing mind quickly came to a halt as I froze. The hair on my arms started to raise up. I could feel the beast breathing in my ear. I slowly rolled back over to get a glimpse.

There was nothing there, yet I still hear it. I still feel it. The cold breath. 

I'm awake, I'm asleep, or maybe I'm constantly somewhere in between. Since the beast caught up with me, it is forever here. It won't go away. I hear it growl, I hear it roar, I hear it whisper, and I hear it laugh. It remains with me. It is a part of me. It is me.

I'm the beast.