A collection of my nightmares told as stories. I'll try to keep them in order from the ones I remember first to the ones I remember recently. Once I run out of past nightmares I'll update the stories based on what nightmares I want to share here
Dreams of death have filling my sleep for the past three nights. I could not call them nightmares, as they are not frightening, but they terrify me even so. The same dream has appeared each night. In all I first awaken on the ground. I'm in a canopy garden filled to the brim with flowers, both blooming and wilting. I look around, admiring the beauty of it all. Even the dead flowers look as if they're glowing. The whole room seems to shimmer with an unknown light. Perhaps it just dew on the petals, or an illusion made by the light slipping through the blossom-covered ceiling. Either way I did not care, nor did I stop to think about what it could be. I continue to admire them, when I feel a presence near me. I turn, nobody is beside me upon first glance. I blink and, when I open my eyes once again, I see a tall figure standing at my side. They are cloaked in black, resembling a shadow. I wasn't afraid of them though. Seeping from their hood is long, silver hair. The way it shimmered resembled that of a star. We stood in silence for several minutes, admiring the flowers, before I noticed it. Their shoulders were bouncing ever so slightly, the more I focused on it I noticed I quiet weeping. In one palm the person held a withered, dead flower. Their hands were large, much larger than mine, but they fit the persons stature. Their fingers were thin, long, and delicate. The way their fingers moved so gently was like watching a spider weave a web. Their other hand was pulled up to their face, I assumed it was to cover their mouth or wipe away tears. I leaned forward to get a glimpse of their face. It was a woman, her face looked soft and kind. Her lips, only partially covered by her hand, were a soft peach with cracks in them. Her eyes and nose were reddened, as if she had been crying for a very long time. Her eyes were a pale blue, almost mixing with the whites. Her eyes looked like shattered crystals, there were shards of lighter and darker blues hidden within them. She was gorgeous. In her beauty, she resembled a mother. Her sweet face seemed twisted in pain at the loss of this flower. I reached to comfort her, but she saw this and quickly pulled away with a sharp gasp. I looked around for something to change the situation, I saw a bench covered in vines.
"Would you like to sit down?" I said quickly.
She nodded and followed me to the bench. We sat in silence once again, until I got up the courage to start a conversation with her.
"Why were you crying for that flower?" I said quietly.
"Every life deserves to be mourned, especially one so beautiful." She replied with a hoarse voice that sounded as if it hadn't been used in ages.
"Are you always mourning for these flowers then?" I asked as I looked up at her.
She looked down at me with sad, reddened eyes and replied calmly.
"Among other things, yes."
"People too?" I said, already knowing the answer.
She paused for a moment and took a deep breath. "Yes, people too. And animals. And any living thing that happens to die." She replied.
"Why do you do that?" I asked curiously, still looking into her blue eyes.
"It's my job, sweet child. I exist to find the lost, mourn for them, and bring them back here where they can have peace until they're sent up or down."
"Like limbo?" I asked.
"I suppose you could call it that." She replied, seemingly disheartened by the name her home has earned.
"And what about the ones who go down? Can you not help them?" I presses.
"I'm afraid I can't, those poor souls lost their ways long ago." She said, somberly.
"Why am I here then? Am I in limbo?" I asked, more concerned.
"No, sweet child, you are simply here to visit. You were as lonely as I, your mind sought something your body could not reach, so now you're here until you wake." She said, laughing slightly.
"When I wake up will you be all alone again?" I ask, sadly.
"In one way, yes, but in another, no. I won't have any soul to talk to, but I'm constantly surrounded by creatures. I'm never truly alone." She replied, with a tone to her voice that somehow echoed sadness.
"What if I stay?" I asked.
"You don't need to, I'll be fine. I've been here since the beginning, I'm used to how things are. You should be heading back right about now anyways." She said, sweetly.
"And how do I go back?" I asked, confused.
She pats her lap, motioning me to lay my head down. I do so, resting my head in her lap. She sweeps her hand over my eyelids, motioning them closed.
"I thought you couldn't touch me?" I asked, keeping my eyes closed.
"No, sweet child, I was preventing you from touching the flower. If you had touched it would would have been pulled into it. The withered flowers are those who have been pulled down, if you touch them you'll be pulled too. It's the same for the bloomed flowers, those are beings who went up." She replied calmly.
"What about the buds?" I asked curiously.
"Those are people in waiting, or 'limbo' as you'd call it. Nothing happens if you touch those, since the soul hasn't gone anywhere." She replied, her voice getting softer as she spoke.
Silence starts, I feel so many thoughts start to race as they usually do when I try to sleep. As this happens the woman starts to sing to me. Her voice is soft and warm, just like a mother singing a baby to sleep. The more I listen the more I realize I've heard this song before.
"Baby mine, don't you cry. Baby mine, dry your eyes. Rest your head close to my heart. Never to part. Baby of mine. Little one, when you play. Don't you mind what they say. Let those eyes sparkle and shine. Never a tear. Baby.. of... mine...."
At this point her voice starts to fade, I always fall asleep at the same part of the song. Then I wake, slight tears dried in my eyes. I keep wanting to go back to sleep to talk to her again. I have this urge to see her face again. I do t dare sleep though, I fear her song may end up being too sweet for me to stay awake at all. But still, her warmth makes me want to go back.
She filled my head so full that it burst. I've sang that song numerous times, hoping it would go away. In order to get her out I drew her, many times over. I'll share one, and only one, of these drawings.
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I pray I won't have that dream again. I don't wish to be pulled further towards her. Further towards death.
