Contest Entries

Sweet Dreams

The Last Five Standing's Round One Entry. (HORROR GENRE)

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Sweet Dreams

by superjelly

Ashlyn woke up from a bad dream once again.

With rapid heartbeats, heavy breathing, and beads of sweat, Ashlyn felt glad that everything was only just a dream. She vividly remembers the huge three-headed serpent that she saw in her dream. She's been having bad dreams for five consecutive times now and for that five nights, she's been losing sleep because of the fear that her bad dreams may haunt her again when she goes back to her quiescent state.

She heard of the dreamcatchers. She read from the Internet that those can take the bad dreams away when you hang one in your bedroom. Ashlyn was eager to buy one tomorrow so she can finally have some rest and for the bad dreams to finally leave her alone.

She hated bad dreams. She only wanted the good ones.

***

"A dreamcatcher, huh?" An old lady in the antique store, walked beside Ashlyn and stared at the dreamcatcher that Ashlyn was holding onto. "Do you know the legend that surrounds the dreamcatchers?"

Ashlyn shook her head in response.

The old lady gave her a smile. "Those originated from the Ojibwe people. They have this ancient legend about a spider woman whose name is Asibikaashi who took care of the Ojibwe people and treated them like as if they were children of her own." The old lady touched the willow hoop that supports the woven net of the dreamcatcher. "Time came when the Ojibwe people needed to spread all over North America and thus it became difficult for Asibikaashi to watch for them. So she weaves, using her own webs, dreamcatchers to somehow reach her children and protect them from nightmares. This hole in the center? The good dreams will slip through and stay when you go to sleep while the bad dreams become entangled among the sinew threads. When you hang this above your bed, you can go to sleep and rest in peace."

Ashlyn looked at the old lady when she said the last three words. She didn't like the sound of that.

The old lady noticed Ashlyn's awkwardness so she patted Ashlyn on her shoulder. "I mean, you can sleep, dream on, and be at peace."

Ashlyn smiled. "I'll buy that one, then."

The old lady returned the smile. "Because I can sense that you are a very fine lady, I'll give you some discount." The old lady placed the item inside a paper bag and Ashlyn paid for it. The old lady handed Ashlyn the paper bag and grinned widely, her yellowish crooked teeth showing. Ashlyn thanked her and when she was about to leave the store, the old lady told her something.

"No more bad dreams... Just good ones."

Ashlyn liked the thought of that.

***

Ashlyn stared at the dremcatcher hanging above her. She looked at the handmade object with the willow hoop and the sinew strands that formed the net. She gazed at the hole in the center of the dreamcatcher, where the good dreams will be trapped and will slip down the feathers for the good dreams to make way inside her head. The nightmares, interwoven in the web, will fade away once the sun rises. Ashlyn closed her eyes and she let herself succumb into a deep slumber.

Ashlyn woke up. True enough, she didn't have a bad dream. She dreamed of herself flying among the stars and the moon. She looked at the dreamcatcher and smiled at gratefulness for it has done its magic on her.

Every night, she'd stare at the dreamcatcher and she always had good dreams. She had tranquility at nights and did not lack sleep anymore. Ashlyn told her friends about this, pursuing them to also buy a dreamcatcher for themselves.

Ashlyn prepared herself to go to bed that night. She felt exhausted after the long day at school. She let herself be entangled into a warm embrace by the softness of her bed. She let herself be carried by it, feeling light and weightless. The bed welcomed her and took her tiredness away with the silent lullabies that only her heart could hear. On that night, amidst the darkness, Ashlyn felt that all her worries were gone as she felt safe in the arms of her bed. She closed her eyes and prepared for the good dreams.

Everything was quiet.

Ashlyn suddenly felt like it was hard to breathe. She felt something was holding her against her will, and no matter how hard she tries to let go of it, she can't move. She opened her eyes.

She's not in her bedroom. She's not lying in her bed.

Ashlyn looked around. Everything around her was white, but there was nothing definite. She looked at her hands and saw that it was ensnared in what seemed like spider webs. She tried to look at her body, raising her head slowly, and realized that she is indeed entangled into a big spider web.

Her efforts to escape were left in vain as it was hard to detach from the strong threads.

"This is only a dream, right?" She said out loud. "A... Good dream?"

"Oh yes, my dear," A female voice spoke. "There aren't any bad dreams in here."

Ashlyn heaved a sigh of relief. She felt calm until she felt something cold brush against her cheek. Her heart starts to pound faster.

She slowly turned her head to see what's beside her.

"There aren't any bad dreams in here... Only a worse reality," A huge spider woman was standing beside her. She was about 8 feet tall, with black spider legs. She was naked, her skin was pale and her body is thin that she almost looked like a skeleton. Her hair was white and long, her eyes were glowing red like a pool of blood, and she had a long thin mouth.

"This is only just a dream. I'll wake up, I'll wake up." Ashlyn told herself in the verge of tears.

The spider woman had long arms and she reached for Ashlyn's face. The spider woman stroked Ashlyn's cheek with her long fingernails and she smiled at her. She was only a few inches away from Ashlyn. Ashlyn saw her own terror in the spider woman's eyes, like as if she was staring at her own death.

"Good night, and forever be in peace." The spider woman said, her mouth now widely opened and her fangs showing. Her saliva was flowing and it fell on Ashlyn's face.

Ashlyn let out a scream before she felt the fangs sink in her head, crushing her skull and tearing her brain apart. Blood splattered all over the web as the spider woman gnawed on Ashlyn's body, eating not only her body but also her soul.

***

The sun rose that morning. Everything appeared normal, except for that empty bedroom of a girl named Ashlyn Reyes. When her parents noticed that their daughter hasn't woken up yet for school, they knocked on her bedroom's door. They didn't get a reply and when they forced the door open, there was nothing in there.

Ashlyn was missing... But what they didn't know was another thing was gone, too.

A beautiful lady stood by the tree outside the Reyes residence, looking over the window of Ashlyn's bedroom. She had a long black hair and glowing skin. Her mouth was long and thin, but beautiful.

In her hands was a dreamcatcher, with the colored feathers and the decorated beads.

She lifted it up to examine it and smiled at what she saw.

There it was, hundreds of souls entangled in the web, calling out for help and mercy. They tried hard to escape, but they couldn't move. She looked at her newest collection, a teenage girl who believed in the magic of the object.

"No more bad dreams... Just good ones," she said as she walked away from that house and disappear into the thin air.