Rosebud

Blue Pill

Joannarolled the tiny blue pill between her fingers. Just the sight of itbrought her disappointment. It was another example of a failedattempt to quell her nightmares.

Shedropped the pill back into the bottle and Twisted the Cap back on. Ithad been over a year since she had a good night sleep. Horrificdreams had her on edge all night long, and recently the lack of sleephad pushed her into seeing a psychologist. She went once a week andat first she was hopeful that he could ease her mind, but so far allthe doctor had done was prescribe her one unsuccessful pill afteranother. With every new prescription came darker nightmares, it wasto the point that it felt like things could only get worse.

Todaywas the day, she decided to seek a non-conventional healing method,also known as a sketchy witch doctor, in a sketchy neighborhood. Shesat in the small waiting room, it was legitimately just a livingroom. The "Examining room", as the man called it, was justthe kitchen. The only thing that separated her from the kitchen waswooden beads that hung from the door frame. The entire house smelledof incense and herbs she couldn't quite picture.

"Comeon in!" The man called to her from the kitchen. She stood upfrom the couch and push past the wooden beads. The man, Alo as hecalled himself, sat at a small round table in the center of thekitchen. His long shaggy hair hung a round his face and in front ofhim set several tiny bowls with different types of herbs in each one."I've been thinking about what you told me over the phone. Ithink I have exactly what you need. Take a seat." He motioned tothe chair across from him and she did as he asked. "To me itsounds like your mind is at war with its self. Frightening andviolent dreams are not unusual, but the fact that they are so vividthat they cause you to lose sleep is not normal." He had a wayof talking with his hands. With big movements he tried too paint youa picture. "I believe that you seek peace." As he wasspeaking, he measured out small amounts of herbs and place them intoa silk pouch. "I believe I have the perfect exercise to help youachieve that." He held up the silk pouch.

"Alright,I'mall ears." She whispered and his smile widen.

"I'mgoing to write the instructions down for you, they're simple but youmust follow them in order, and be particular." She gave a shortnod and the man continued. "You're going to have to take sometime off of work. You can choose the location you wish to stay at,but it must be secluded. I suggest State Park. You're going to needto stay two nights." He locked eyes with her. "On the firstday start a fire, make sure you collect enough wood to keep itburning for at least two days. Stay through the first night and makesure your fire does not go out." The man began to wright on anote card, looking up from it every once and a while. "Throughoutthe day tend to your fire, keep it burning. On the second night youmust stay up till the Moon is at the highest point in the sky. Whenit is at the highest, throw this silk pouch in. Once you are sure thepouch is completely burn through. You can sleep if you like andthere's no longer a reason to tend to the fire, let it burn outnaturally. In the morning you're free to do as you please, just makesure you do not leave the campsite until the fire is completelyburned out and the sun is up."

Hehanded the pouch over to her. "That's it? Seems easy enough."She took it into her hand and it barely weighed anything.

"You'dbe surprised, a lot of people come here seeking peace of mind, butthey are not willing to put in the effort." He let out a sigh.

Shelet that thought settle for a moment and then asked, "Do you geta lot of people here like me?" He looked up, turning his head tothe side. "I mean people with nightmares." She added.

"Yes,I get a lot of people with pain . Some are soldiers in some arerefugees, both are survivors. They don't normally dream about thethings they've seen, they often dream of new frighteningscenarios."He said, the words hit home for her. The nightmaresshe had were never memory's, they were their own entity.

"Whyis that?" She asked. Suddenly she felt more inclined to believethe things he said. Maybe in an hour she would be more skeptical, butat the moment she hung on his every word

"Ithink it's different for each individual. Some people fear that itmight happen again, some people feel guilty for the things theydidn't do and the people they didn't help, and I think some peoplejust don't know how to be happy."

Shelooked down at the bag in her hand, she couldn't help but wonderwhich one of those people she was.

"Willyou be paying cash or card?" Alo asked, snapping her back toreality, and reminding her that he could be a clever con artist. Mostcon-artists are very Charming and he was just that.

"Cash."Shesaid, reaching into her purse.

Thatnight she returned home with the silk bag still in her possession.She was on the fence about the hole 'exercise' as he had called it.Two days off didn't fit into her budget and after having time tothink about it she didn't know if she believed him.

Heruncertainty was short lived, that night she had another dream. Shewoke up at 2 A.M, her heart racing, and tears in her eyes. It wasanother violent Dream, and as usual she was unable to go back tosleep. She spent the next few hours at her desk, planning her twonight camping trip. The insomnia was really catching up, and Shedesperately needed a change. She was well past her breaking point andwould do anything to make it better.