Sweet Dreams

Sweet Dreams

I’ve held this story inside for too many years …. I think it’s finally time to let it out.

Oooooooooo….ooooooo…ooooo! It’s the witching hour of All Hollow’s Eve and I lay

in my bed. Babooooom! That large sound preceded the blast of lightning which immediately cast

the graveyard across the street outside my side window in a flash of brief, white light! It

produced a natural back drop revealing a long arching panoramic view of old weathered cracking

concrete headstones, six-foot-tall moss-covered concrete crosses straining as though pushing up

right out of the ground beneath them, and the unfriendly sight of sparsely planted Devil’s trees

with their evil reputations! I listen to the relentless howling of the wind beyond the eerie silence

of my darkened bedroom walls.

My eye lids grow heavy, as sleep beckons me to join the shadowy dream world. Drifting

off, two forms flanking either side of me, have shown up. Their purpose is to whisk away my

resting spirit. I resist and try to escape, but I can’t quite break the grip they have on me.

Then poof!!! .... a ghoulish white haze forms, and hovers in front of the thicket of trees where

they’ve deposited me. I must be dreaming; it feels so strangely surreal. The menacing thin white

hovering form is multiplying and now several specters are hanging in the air just in front of me.

I feel a chill run through my body. It’s so dark I can only slightly make out my surroundings,

and only because of the full moon which is suspended in the dark black sky behind me. I see a

concrete gray ribbon that appears to be a road lined with cornfields behind me. I’m aware of two

car headlights, which in this scene look like menacing bulging eyeballs. I’m not sure if I should

stay frozen in my tracks, move forward towards the threatening looking white forms, or make a

dash towards the creepy bulging glowing car lights? Considering these options, I decide to try

and move slowly backwards towards the road, but away from the headlights. As I peak back, I

now notice a silhouette of what appears to be a farmhouse. It’s slightly elevated on a distant hill.

Maybe that will prove to be a sanctuary for me.

Think, think, calm down, I need a plan, and I need one now!

Pg. 1

I’ve decided to head to the farmhouse. I begin to quicken my pace. It’s as though there

is a huge invisible hand firmly pressed to my back and hurrying me along. As I reach the

road, I feel a sudden rush of excitement…a car is heading towards me! I wave frantically,

pleading with my unknown savior to stop, let me inside the car, and take me away from

this nightmare. Oh, thank goodness, the driver responds and stops just a short distance

past me. I’m now full of adrenaline and sprinting towards my means of escape. As I get

within an arm's length of my steel savior, it suddenly and without warning vaporizes and

dissipates into the cool night air. It was nothing more than a ghost car. A hideous

conveyance finding evil pleasure in leading me on with a false hope.

I’m dazed, confused, and my brain is trying to process where I am. What exactly is

happening to me? Instinctively, I cross the road and disappear into the endless rows of

cornstalks that lie between me and my perceived safe haven. A thin cool fog has now lowered

from the sky above and is hovering a few feet above this sea of cornstalks. My knees bang

against the ears of corn and my feet are crunching the stalks that have fallen in my path.

Occasionally I am tripped up by one of the fallen stalks, but I keep recovering quickly. I jump to

my feet and press on through the corn field obsessively and without deviation on a straight line

as the crow flies. The whole time I have been advancing towards the silhouette of a Farmhouse,

the specters have kept pace with me, way too close for comfort!

As I draw within shouting distance of the old farmhouse, the spectral hand that has been

pressed to my back and keeping me moving forward, peels away and fades up into the

fog above the cornfield. I cup my mouth and form the word hello. I scream out to notify

anyone in the farmhouse, which I am approaching. Hellllooooo …. My yell carries

through the heavy air, bounces off the sides of the dilapidated building, and seems to

echo back past me towards where I have just come from.

Pg.2

There are large prickly weeds, small gnarly trees, and a rotting pile of weathered wood,

lying in a pile behind the house, where the barn once stood. The farmhouse looks to be in

slightly better shape. Mainly because it’s still standing! As I slowly and cautiously

approach the darkened structure, a foreboding comes over me that perhaps this isn’t

where I will find help.

The house is totally dark, except for what seems to be a burning candle I can see through

an attic window. I now warily approach the back door which is cracked open. I don’t take

this as a good sign. The door lets out a loud menacing creek as I push it slowly open wide

enough to pass inside. The Harvest moon is providing just enough light to allow me to

navigate around ever so cautiously. Regrettably, from the looks of it, no one, at least no

human soul, has lived here for quite a while.

What next … do I search the house hoping it will be a suitable refuge to keep me until

the light of dawn, do I investigate the burning light I saw in the attic hoping there is a

normal human being up there that can help me, or do I turn and run like heck out of

here?........ I chose to turn and run like heck!

Oh, crud just hanging below the frosty fog, the specters from across the street, are waiting

out back for me. Son of a gun I can’t catch a break. It’s back into the freaking house!

I move slowly. It feels like the house is a sinister force which is drawing me to the center into its

bowels. It appears that whoever once occupied this house, left abruptly! I move forward towards

the center of the house trying to avoid but bumping into the old decaying furnishings. I’ve

reached the center of the house with its short hallway. There is a door closing off the basement,

and a rising stairway with a deteriorating handrail. Most of the spindles are lying like barricades

across the steps. I feel an invisible force nudging me towards the basement.

Pg. 3

Should I oblige this unseen spirit from the netherworld? I decide better of it and start towards the

front door. I have to pry open the door which is jammed tightly against the frame. I’m able to

force it open and as I step through, I’m stunned to see the band of specters now blocking my exit

again! This pack of ominous spirits from the abyss seemed to have an agenda, which

unfortunately seems to include me. I’ve had enough and have decided to go for broke. I start

running at them as they block my path thinking I’ll run right through them. Wrong! Even

though they looked like a white hollow mist, it feels like I hit a brick wall. Also, they are made up

of some sort of adhesive material that grabs a hold of me, preventing me from getting past them.

They collectively give me a robust push back towards the front entry. It’s very apparent they

don’t want me to leave, nor does it seem like I have a choice in the matter. There is some reason

they want me back in the house, and I can’t think of one that ends well for me.

Reluctantly I again start to shuffle through the spooky old home with its cobwebs and

decaying furnishings. When I reach the center of the house, I decide the less frightening path is

upstairs as opposed to the basement. The specters follow me in and show me they’ve decided

otherwise by blocking the stairway. Darn, it looks like I am trapped and at their mercy. What

horrendous fate awaits me in the basement? I try to stall while I consider my options. Since I

can’t escape these insidious fiends, there aren’t any options!

The steps bow and creak as I stride down to whatever horror awaits me in this dark

dank…. dirt floor basement. Its pitch black and I can’t see my hand in front of my face. My

destination and destiny are now in the hands of the unsettling ghosts that are poking and

prodding me along. They cause the air to suddenly become so thick; I am stopped in my tracks. I

have undoubtedly taken my last steps on this earth and have reached my unwelcome fate!

Nothing is in front of me; nothing to the left of me, but to the right is an iron clad door that is

mounted to a frame in the dirt floor.

Pg. 4

A low pitch screeching starts to emanate from the unholy phantoms that are now

controlling me. I interpret this to mean they want me to open the iron door, and they want it done

without hesitation. I position myself to lift the heavy iron door. All kinds of hideous things are

running through my mind as to what lies beyond the door. What gruesome discovery am I about

to make! I open the door. I am somewhat relieved that I am not scorched by flames. It had run

through my mind that this may be the gateway to hell with the devil himself my one man

welcoming committee! It is actually too dark to see anything past the door. More unnerving

screeching is coming from the specters. It’s growing louder which causes me to turn around.

Inexplicably there is now a torch on a stand behind me and I am being implored by these

ungodly specters to retrieve it. The now well-lit basement reveals a plethora of spider webs and

rainwater dripping from the floor above. Though I am trying to delay returning to the entrance to

this unholy underground, I am now being moved against my will. As I approach there is a stench

emanating out of the opening I hadn’t notice before. I hadn’t noticed it because either it hadn’t

reached the door opening yet, or fear had turned off my sense of smell.

Now situated in front of the entrance to whatever lies underground, I am strongly

encouraged by my captors to climb down the rickety wooden ladder. I hold the torch in my left

hand as I descend the ladder using my feet and right hand. It is approximately 8’ down to the

floor which is also just clay dirt. I slowly look around….and then……what I see I’m not

prepared for! I now almost wish it had been the gateway to hell instead of this. Lifeless corpses

are piled at one end of the square hole! They are in various stages of decomposing. They appear

to all be young adults.

Suddenly the screeching from the apparitions that had led me here has stopped. There is

now a cold dead silence. As I climb up the ladder and out of the ungodly hole, the specters fade

away with a whooshing sound.

Pg. 5

I surmise the specters had originated from the corpses and their mission was to have

someone finds them. I feel a sense of overwhelming relief that they are now gone, and I can move

around according to my own free will!

The sun is rising as the first responders descend in hordes on this long ago abandoned

Farmhouse. The unfortunate once living bodies are slowly retrieved by a group from the

coroner’s office. They are placed into a line of ambulances and rescue squad vehicles and driven

away one by one. I am questioned by a couple of detectives and released. This is amazing since

even I can hardly believe my unbelievable story. I guess they figured it was too crazy to have

been made up.

I am now alone and about to leave the parlor. I look into the old oval shaped ornate wall

mirror. I see what appears to be two hideous ghouls staring back at me! The sight of these

fiendish apparitions confined in the mirror about takes my breath away and sends me

into a panic attack! Oh My God…. it’s not over. Then the ghoulish apparitions mouth the

word .... slide past the side of the frame and out of sight.

What the hell was that?!....What did that mean?!...Where did they go?!........ All I know is I’m

out of here!

At home I read in the newspaper that all 12 of the victims have been identified to the

relief of their families. At least they can now have some kind of closure regarding the fate of

their missing family member. All the victims had disappeared without a trace within the last

several months. It’s now in the hands of the authorities to figure out what happened to them and

apprehend the evil that is responsible for this.

What a nightmare…… it’s crazy to me how I was chosen by the spirits of these victims

to retrieve their lost bodies. I am just glad it’s over, I’m back home, and instead of

obsessing about what happened to me, I am just going to try and block it out of my mind,

and move on.

Pg. 6

With a strong will and determination, I am able to block the whole episode out of my

mind. I now have a good job, a good relationship with a fine woman I am dating, and a

great social life.

A year has passed…… I return home from a Party and lay down on my bed watching a

late night show…….

Oooooooooo….ooooooo…ooooo! It’s the witching hour of All Hollow’s Eve. I listen to

the relentless howling of the wind, beyond the eerie silence of my darkened bedroom

walls. My eye lids grow heavy, as sleep beckons me to join the shadowy dream world.

Drifting off, two forms flanking either side of me, have shown up, to whisk away my

resting spirit. I resist and try to escape, but I can’t quite break the grip they have on me!

Then poof!!!.... a ghoulish white haze forms, and hovers in front of the misty dark bank

rising up from the brown twisting river where I’ve been deposited. There’s a few low

lights glowing from a not too distant 4 story…. warehouse…

As I look towards the warehouse, I see two dark specters floating towards me. As they get

closer…. Oh my god!!!…. it’s the two hideous ghouls from the farmhouse parlor mirror who had

mouthed the word WAREHOUSE to me!!!

………………Aghhhhhhhhh…... I get the strong feeling, this isn’t over!!

The End

Pg.7