these sweet nightmares

chapter 8: the disturbing dream

The nightmare began like this.

It began as an ordinary dream. In a very surreal dreamscape, I was walking among grass and flowers and sunshine, thinking how wonderful everything seemed, without a care in the world. My family was located in front of me under a big apple tree. Mother and Father were holding each other lovingly and Henry waving at me. They were all smiling, beckoning me to come and join them. I happily did.

I sat under a shade where the apples fell directly into my hands. Big, red, juicy fruits. I licked my lips and bit into one. That was when the dream started distorting.

The moment when my teeth sank into the skin of the apple, a horrid taste overflowed in my mouth. Though the apples looked sweet, the juices were bitter. I knitted my brows together stared at it. As I did, the apple began to move. Startled, I dropped it and the apple landed on the green grass with a thud. Wriggling out, a big, fat worm bore a hole through the red and came slugging onto the ground. It held its head to me, curled up into a wicked smile and said in a haggard voice, “I’m coming for YOU!” over and over as it slithered toward.

I backed out in horror, but then tripped, and landed on my back. I watched the worm transform, growing numerous legs, hands, eyes and a tail. It became a scorpion, stingers and all. It came forward, snapping its pinchers, wanting to cut my arms off. Then it shed its exoskeleton off, revealing even more little scorpions. They, too, came scuttling after me.

I ran and ran, but could never seem to get farther than a few inches ahead of them. Soon, when I stopped in front of the tree, they all but disappeared into vapor. I sighed in relief. I leaned on the hard tree and closed my eyes. Something delicately fell on my forehead. I touched my face and felt sticky threading. Perplexed, I examining it on my fingers. Then I cried out as I realized it was from a web. I yanked it off, disgusted by the weird sensation it gave.

But as fast as I could, more and more silk began falling from the tree. I looked up and screamed. A big gigantic spider was coming down, hanging from its web, which was full of, not flies or buggies, but human corpses! I choked on another scream as its eight legs reached for me. Its red eyes tore into my soul as I heard it speak.

Come to me. Come to me now. The end is nearly here.

I crawled out of there on my knees, half-delusional and desperately wanting to wake up.

The flowers around the tree were pleasing to the eye, but when I brushed against one of them, the leaves began to wind round my wrists, holding me down to place. Hard as I might, tugging was not effective. The vines were coiling too tightly, my blood slowly cut off from circulation. But the leaves weren’t the only things that were terrifying. The flowers themselves were opening up, showing rows and rows of teeth, snapping at me.

Stay with us. Stay with us! they sang, while one of them tried to land a bite on my shoulder. Using every force I willed, I kicked the flowers out of my way. They blackened and slacked, but before that, they released a sickly sweet smelling powder into my face.

Huffing and puffing, my head swirled as I coughed up blood. My nose and throat were inflamed, like as if they were on fire. Water was what I needed, but, oh, irony, in this land of lusciousness, there was not one drop of the precious liquid. Instead, there was only a black substance like tar. Unfortunately, I stepped into one of the puddles, which began to bubble and hiss. Instantly, I took my foot out just as the toxic began to fester on my flesh. I gnashed my jaws together as the poison worked it way up to my nerves; my left leg was useless.

What is this place? I screamed in my mind. I wanted to get out, wanted to get away.

What was, at first sight, a utopia, was actually, under the enticing appearance, a trap. Everything in here was dangerous, poisonous, or carnivorous, and I had to escape. Then I remembered my family. Where were they?