Dream On

It wasn't a dream!

"Tommy, what are you doing here!" His grandmother looks surprised and worried. "Is everything alright? Come in, come in," she hushes him in and closes the door.

Only now Tommy starts to cry. "The girl, she came," he sobs.

"Oh, did you have a bad dream again?"

"It wasn't a dream! I was up, and her doll was there, and then she was there, bleeding from her eyes and —"

"Slow down, slow down, I don't understand anything. How about I make you hot cocoa, and you tell me everything," the grandmother says. She's about to turn around and go to the kitchen when she freezes. "What the..." she takes a step towards Tommy and leans over to him to closely inspect his neck. "Tommy, did you... Uhm, did you hit yourself somewhere?"

"What, no? Why?"

Grandmother frowns and clutches his hand tightly. "Come to the kitchen."

---

"So, tell me again what happened?"

Tommy tells her everything. There is a heavy silence after he ends.

"Sweetie," grandmother's voice breaks halfway through. "There's a big bruise forming on your neck. Can you tell me how that happened?"

"What? Really?" Tommy's confused. He goes to check the bruise in the mirror. "I don't know, grandma. The girl didn't touch me, I swear."

"Yeah, I'm sure she didn't," grandmother sounds bitter. "I will need to call your mom to let her know that you're here."

"Can I stay overnight, grandma?"

"Of course you can. You can stay here as long as you want."

Grandmother tries to call Tommy's house, but no one's picking up.

"I will need to go there. I don't want your mom to be worried," grandma says after putting the phone down. "Is it okay if you come with me? I don't think I can call anyone to babysit you at this hour."

Tommy just nods and looks away.