My Nightmare

    I woke staring at the ceiling, sweating, shaking, scared. The dream was haunting me, so much so, I was afraid to fall asleep. I readied myself for the day. Showered, shaved, had breakfast and set off to work. The routine was becoming boring for me. I needed an adventure of sorts, so I planned a weekend getaway. I settled on a weekend with my girlfriend, Janet. I was from the other side of the tracks and was not the favorite person to go visiting. Resting on the sofa, tired and worn out from the nightmare, dozed off. I was in a place I did not recognize. Ducking and diving, zig zagging alert to any sound. Suddenly the figure was there and its intentions were clear, rushing straight at me. I turned, ran, my legs feeling leaden. I had a head start, but I could not shake the shadow chasing me. Before me was a flight of stairs. I jumped and, in one leap, was at the bottom. Sweating and retching, I turned right on my shoulder. It was there. I was flying, wow this was fantastic. Flying with ease through the air, relaxing, I did a few rolls, enjoying the moment. In a flash, my moment was destroyed, a monstrous dark shadow engulfed me. I fell from my safe moment in the sky, landed on my feet, and sprinted. Run, run, run is all I could think of. The ominous apparition towered over me, shadowy arms with grotesque, long squiggly fingers reached for me. Cowering, covering my eyes with my raised hands, screamed me awake. Clothes uncomfortable from the sweat, had a cold shower and a change of clothing. I needed to express to someone my concerns about what was happening to me. Decided to book a sick day from work. It was Thursday and made my way to my girlfriend’s parents’ home. 

       Knowing it was a mistake, I proceeded anyway. Opening the door, her mother, scowling, asked me to come in. Janet was in the kitchen and called a good morning, bringing me a brewed cup of coffee. Janet’s father was away on business, so I asked Moira, her mother, if Janet and I could go camping the weekend, inviting her to come with. Of course, she would decline. I made plans and told Mrs. Campbell I would come around Friday afternoon and we could leave immediately for the campsite. She politely refused the invitation and told me she had spoken to Mr. Campbell, and he had agreed Janet and I could go camping. I had to say which camping site we were going to, who was going with us, and leave the details with her. I thanked her and told her I would see them Friday. That night it came again, more intense than ever before. This time, when I screamed myself awake, I cowered in the bedroom for a while. Made a pot of coffee and stayed awake the rest of the night. I was relieved to feel the warm rays of the sun. Tired as I was, I reported for duty and was too busy at work to worry about my nightmare. The work brought me temporary relief from my worst fears.

       Driving over to pick up Janet, I felt like dozing off. Holding onto my sanity, drove up the driveway. Janet was ready, smiling as I packed her camping gear into the jeep. Driving to the campsite, I mentioned I would like some help with something. She was glad to get out of her mother’s eagle eyes and domineering attitude. Agreed to talk at the camping site about anything I wanted to talk about.

       Pitching the tent, I could tell Janet of my concern. I told her I was not sleeping well. The reason was a recurring dream I was having. In the dream, I was being chased by somebody or something, never being able to identify my attacker. No matter how fast I ran, jumping from the top of stairs, sometimes flying, then running again. I could not shake my pursuer, always ending with my pursuer, a shadow reaching out to grab me. I awake Screaming, sweating, disorientated, and shaking with fear. I told her I was worried about why I was having this nightmare, and did it have a meaning? Could it be some kind of warning? I asked her to check up on me when I slept that night. She told me not to worry about it. As if I could forget the fear, running, flying, running, waking up screaming. I was worried, waking every morning in a sweat, disorientated, wondering where I was at. I asked her if she had bad dreams, nightmares. She laughed and said sleep came naturally to her, and she didn’t have a guilty conscious.

       We had not consummated our relationship and slept in our separate sleeping bags. Worried about my nightmare, I lay awake. Not being able to fight my tired body, I finally fell asleep. The warmth of the sun’s rays awoke me. There was no running, flying, jumping stairs waking to my scrams. I slept like a baby, refreshed, sitting awake, happy, but still wondering where my nightmare had gone. Thinking it had to be the fresh air, or maybe because Janet was with me, and I had offloaded my fears on her. I Got out of the sleeping bag, feeling great, stretching and yawning, I looked toward Janet’s bag. It was empty; she was not there. Peering out the tent’s flaps, I was amazed to see Janet sweating, shaking, looking afraid. The sun was warm, so she could not be sweating from the heat or shivering from cold. She turned to face me and I saw the scared, confused look on her face. It was a mystery to me; her afraid. Had something happened to her mother? Hurrying out of the tent pulled her close, hugged her. Asked her what was the matter? Looked at her sweating forehead and tearful eyes. Pulling me close whispered. “It’s now after me”.