Once upon a time, in a land far, far away...there lived a girl-haunted by her dreams. She was tormented nightly by a woman who forced her to do terrible things to other people and herself.1
Slowly, this woman drove the girl crazy. She spent day after day trying to make the woman leave. She talked to her friends who she knew would help in any way they could. They requested counseling but the girl complained that they made her feel even crazier. They listened to her when she told them about her dreams and comforted her as best as they could.2
Her parents constantly made sure she was taking her anti-depressants and that she wasn't cutting anymore. They believed her dreams to be no more than pure imagination. But the girl knew different.3
Day after day, she became more withdrawn from reality. She remained as bright as she could around her family, for fear they would notice a change in her. She didn't want them to know what her dreams were doing to her. She begged to her goddess to take the nightmares away, all to no avail.4
Every night before she went to bed, she would meditate. She would spend as long as it took to ground and center and find some sort of peace for her mind. The smell of smoke from her parents' cigarettes and the sound of the television outside would soar through her head. After meditating, she would lay in bed and sleep, only to wake up in the middle of the night with terror ripping through every inch of her body. After a few nights, she'd trained herself not to scream and just to offer up a few, lifeless whimpers.5
The dreams began to wear her down even more. The sexual harrassment that she and all the girls in her class faced began to ebb away at all her nerves. She started acting irritable and would snap at anything that bothered her-always on edge.6
With all the stress in her surroundings, the woman in her nightmares began to get stronger. She began to manifest herself in real life where the girl saw her and felt her all the time. The woman would whisper in her ear while she sat in class, she would pet her forehead and sing to her while she went to sleep and hovered around her constantly.7
All the girl wanted was to be alone. She wanted the Nightmare Woman to go away. She wanted peace. She wanted to lay down at night and not worry about having another nightmare that will cost herself her sanity.8
Her friends' concern for her grew, she could see it in their faces. She wanted to smile and tell them she would be alright. But that would be lying, and her friends didn't like liars.9
She still fears that the nightmares will last forever. And even though she knew it would be better for her to go to a counselor and talk it over with someone who would listen and offer the help she needed, she feared confronting her parents. She was afraid they would tell her she was adding more worry to their lives, as she'd been told in her dreams and in reality. So she kept it to herself, only telling the people that mattered and trying to stay awake at night only to let sleep take over.10
She still suffers from the nightmares after weeks...she still fears going to bed at night...she is me.11
Author notes
ahem, pretty self explanitory i guess...
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Comments
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Unfortunately, I know how you feel with all the nightmares all the time. Sometimes it still feels like my sister is alive too because I still hear her voice. My parents just found out about my cutting problem and I haven't told them about my sister. I swear she is still alive in my mind. And she won't go away. Won't leave me alone. I've written a few of my nightmares out and to me, seeing them in plain text, it scares me that my mind can think this shit up. It was an awsome story and I thought that it was pretty scary too... even if it doesn't seem that way to another person. I've been in your shoes before, I can relate to the horrors that come with the night. I have one almost every night for the past... seven almost 8 years.the killings, the suicides, accidental killings, everything. Seducing, fucking, everything. Rapes. I hate it all, and I thought just that this piece was trully amazing work.
~Lullaby
Edited on Dec 09, 2:18 p.m. because 'I was being an idiot and forgot something'. -
the sexual harrassment thing is basically the scumbags at our school pinning girls to the lockers, whispering vulgar things to us and stupid shit like that.
sorry it took so long for me to reply to that.
~Kami. -
your comments are not unwanted, i appreciate them greatly. i'm glad you enjoy my writing and i am glad that you offer up an honest opinion about them.
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great
Very well written. I thought the sexual harassment thing should either be enlarged or written about in another story since it is thrown in and withdrawn suddenly. However, I do enjoy bits of random information that jolt a person out of complacency so it is not too out of place as long as you write about it elsewhere. I love autobiographical fiction. You did a very good job at getting the audience to sympathize with your character to get a small glimpse of her pain. Your ending was great conceptually but not technically. In other words it was an amazing idea to drop the bombshell on the reader that it is the author herself who is having the dreams I just think that your sentence wasn't as convincing as it could have been. I just don't like she is me. I can see the parallel structure of she is..., she is... she is me. That part works but the "is me" just isn't my cup of tea, like some of my high falutin friends that like to talk about themselves in the third person. Anyway I would probably put the last sentence in the first person. I figure it would make it more dramatic going from limited third person point of view. (limited as in not onmiscient third person point of view.)to a final sentence in first person. Hmmm actually shifting points of views is always difficult. My advice would be to ask different people how they would shift make the shift. Find something that you are comfortable with. Perhaps you will end up leaving it the same. By the way I am reading so many of your short stories because you read one of my poor entries so i wanted to read some of yours. If they had sucked I would not have wasted time continueing reading and posting comments. I am sorry if my comments are unwanted. Thanks again for writing. -
holy crap this is so...... i mean, i really like it, its deep but its...haunting!! *nod* yeh, haunting *looks smug coz she found a great word* um yeah...what does the Nightmare Woman look like? and whats going on with the sexual harrassment thingy? love ya, im always here
Polly -
i've written 2 stories on a couple of the dreams, my mind is too blah to write anymore on them lol thanks.
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wow... i'm almost confused as to what the dreams are actually about but i suppose it's enough to know that they're freakish. and oddly, somwhere in the middle of this, i knew it was you. hm... i dont know how i can help. i dont know what else might help you sleep easier or to force that nightmare out of your head. becasue that's just it: the more it happens, the more you'll think of it and the harder it is to forget it. hm... i'll think about it. see what helps to sleep. feel better!
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i am really worried about you Kameo, but i dont know any way i can help..
!Joyus! -
Great :-)
Wow Kamio this was really really good. So exciting and deep. Wonderful job girl. Yeah I know about these nightmares and dreams you have been having, you told me about them. Its kinda creepy. If I could make them all go away I would, cause I love you girl!!! Hopefully the woman will leave your dreams alone...LOL! This was great hun dont stop writing!!! LOVE BB
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wow, that is deep. i havnt read something this good in a long time, i loved it! it kept me on the edge of my seat wanting to know what would be said next. i cant say that i know what your going through, and a very close friend of mine used to feel like this all the time, she too couldnt tell her parents because they would just say that she was adding more drama to their lives. anyways this was very good i absolutly loved it!
-Teena -
wow, so it hasnt stopped...wow, well this story is great. i love this story...its awesome. its sad though that you have to suffer through this all. its really sad and if you could get yourself help then i suggest you do it. i mean i "need help" too so yeah i know what you mean bout not wantin to see a couluncer..so just...i dont no..im not good at advise...well neways ill ttyl
Allie
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