Dreams of the Sleepless

A Plan

I awoke screaming, shuddering, crying. Of all the horrible nightmares over the years, this was the worst. They all had dark figures and unspeakable acts, but they were always directed at me. This was the first one that I could remember where I was a spectator in another person's terror and death. The most frightening part was that, in the darkest recesses of my mind, there was Si. His wicked grin revealing that he knew what I was just realizing, Molly had become much too important to me. This nightmare rocked me. There would be no more sleep tonight. I turned the lights on and sat down with a cold beer to try to calm myself. I was unnerved, and it took quite a while to regain my composure.

The nightmare, and the certainty that Jeb now knew that I was the one who blindsided him, made it clear that it was time for me to try to cobble the pile of junk from Eli's into some type of defense system. His next drunken spell was sure to bring revenge. My first plan was to fix the broken arm on the security light and install it outside the cabin. As I thought through the plan, it made less and less sense. The whole idea behind a security light is to frighten off intruders by making them visible to others. The cabin was in the middle of a wooded lot. Would anyone really care if a light came on? The Grovers were the only ones out there, and they were quiet neighbors who were good at keeping secrets.

What I needed was a way to know if someone approached the cabin. I wrestled with the problem for a while and finally came up with a plan that I wasn't sure would work. It would require a long run of extension cords. I wasn't an electrician, but I knew that the longer the run, the greater the possibility for loss in voltage. Luckily, Eli's extension cords were heavy duty, but this would be tricky. I would need some daylight to test my plan. It was still dark outside so I started with the other piece of the plan, covering the windows. Using duct tape, I covered the inside of each window with the cardboard from Eli's. I used the tape to seal around the edges and to seal up where I joined pieces. I double-checked to be sure that I could still unlock, open and close the windows. Now, peering eyes wouldn't be able to see in.

I looked out the door. The dull light prior to sunrise was rising like mist through the trees. It was just bright enough to see. The lane leading into the clearing was shaped somewhat like a question mark. Although it opened up to the left front of the cabin, it actually curved around the side of the cabin before winding down toward the highway. There wasn't a lot of distance between the lane and the left wall of the cabin, but the thick trees and underbrush made it impossible to see the building until you emerged into the clearing.

A couple of the extension cords appeared to be 100 feet in length. I ran one out of the left window of the cabin and fought my way through the underbrush toward the lane. I reached the end of the extension cord as I waded out of the trees. So, the distance was OK.

Now, I would see if the electrical piece of the plan would work. I cut the female end off the extension cord and spliced the wires into the wires of the motion sensor using electrician's tape to secure the connections. Next, I removed the metal arm with the light, cutting the wires. I took the second extension cord and cut off both ends. I spliced the cord into the light allowing me to have a 100-foot separation between the motion sensor and the light it controlled. I used the duct tape to secure the sensor to a tree facing the lane. Ready for a test, I jogged back to the cabin and plugged the extension cord into an outlet. I then returned to the sensor on the lane. I adjusted the sensor's settings and placed it in test mode. Amazingly, when I moved near the sensor, the light came on. Satisfied with my MacGyver contraption, I ran the second cord with the spliced light fixture back through the underbrush and into the window of the cabin. Using the duct tape again, I attached the broken metal arm to the wall and angled the light toward the bed. Now, if someone came down the lane at night, it would trigger the sensor on the lane and turn on the light inside the cabin, waking me up. The cardboard in the windows would prevent the light from being seen outside.

Test mode appeared to give me about fifteen seconds of light. I walked the distance between the sensor and the front door several times. It took about thirty seconds to walk from the sensor and reach the front door. My plan was to leave the sensor on test mode. I just wanted enough light to wake me up. Once awake, I would slip out the back window of the cabin into the trees. The light would go out and Jeb would find a dark, empty cabin. I wasn't yet sure what would happen after that. It was still a plan in progress, but at least I now had a way of being alerted if he came to pay a visit.

----- Author's Note -----

Another nightmare but different. This one seems to shake Joe more than the last. Avery important point is his comment,

The most frightening part was that, in the darkest recesses of my mind, there was Si. His wicked grin revealing that he knew what I was just realizing, Molly had become much too important to me.

Si evidently has some connection to the nightmares AND watching someone close to him suffer seems to have some significance.

Do you think that Jeb is the danger that Joe perceives him to be?

Thank you for reading Dreams of the Sleepless. Please vote and remember that comments are appreciated.