My Writetober 2020

Day 7: Nightmares

Grian didn't want to climb into bed.

He was sick of the nightmares, plaguing him for months now. At first they only came once a week, and then twice, and then they took over his dreams altogether.

He was tired, exhausted even, but he refused to even touch a bed. Sure, he might have a hundred phantoms after him, but he had a safe space to sit in to pass the night. A room littered with torches, books in a stack to keep him entertained. No-one else knew of this room, at least that he knew.

So when night rolled around, Grian slipped into the room and sat down, opening a book. He could feel the fatigue that enveloped every part of his body, and fought to stay awake.

"Grian?"

Grian jumped, glancing around. He spotted Mumbo's nametag in another part of the house, near where his bed sat.

"Grian? Grian where are you?" Mumbo was sounding increasingly concerned.

Grian exited the secret room, making his way to where Mumbo was. "M'right here."

"Oh there you are." Mumbo breathed a sigh of relief. "You weren't in bed so I thought-"

"I'm okay Mumbo, I'm-" Grian yawned. "I'm okay."

Mumbo's brow furrowed, the redstone engineer noticing the air of exhaustion around Grian. He strode up to Grian with a frown.

"When was the last time you slept?"

Grian paled. "Uh um. Last night?"

"Tell the truth."

Grian sighed. Mumbo may be a spoon, but he was good at reading people. "I haven't slept in two months."

"TWO MONTHS!?" Mumbo exclaimed. "Wha- Why haven't you slept?!"

Grian shifted uncomfortably. "It's nothing."

"No it's not, this is serious. The side effects I have after not sleeping for a week were drastic, but two months!? You need to go to bed!"

Grian twiddled his thumbs, not answering.

Mumbo sighed. "Here, let's take you to Xisuma. He'll figure it out."

Too tired to protest, Grian let Mumbo lead him to Xisuma's base. The Admin was asleep in his own bed, his cannula on.

Mumbo gently shook Xisuma awake.

"Mm wha?" The admin mumbled sleepily.

"Sorry to wake you at this hour, but we have an issue." Mumbo answered.

Xisuma yawned. "Okay, okay, I'm up." He sat up, swinging his legs off the side of the bed, removing his cannula and putting on his helmet.

"What's the problem."

Mumbo pointed to Grian. "He hasn't slept in two months. That can't be good for his physical health, let alone his mental health."

"Grian, why haven't you been sleeping?" Xisuma asked gently. "You're not up working, are you?"

Grian shook his head.

"Is it an outside force?"

Grian shook his head.

"Nightmares?"

Grian hesitated.

Xisuma held Grian's hands. "Do you know what has been causing these night terrors?"

"No, but they've just been getting worse."

"Can you tell me what the nightmares are about?"

Grian bit his lip. "They're mainly things from my past coming back to haunt me, suppressed memories and trauma."

Xisuma spoke to him softly. "Hey, you're going to be okay. But you still need to sleep, nightmares or not. Perhaps if you slept in the same room as another hermit, the nightmares will stop?"

"That could work." Grian mumbled.

"How about Scar?" Mumbo suggested.

Xisuma nodded. "Good idea. You okay with that Grian?"

Grian nodded. "One more question?"

Xisuma nodded, and Grian turned to Mumbo.

"Why were you in my base at 11 pm?"

Mumbo laughed sheepishly. "One of your villagers got loose, I stuck him in a boat and was gonna wake you up to quickly ask you where it went."

"Ah okay." Grian yawned again, still fighting to stay awake.

Mumbo sighed. "Go ahead and sleep, I'll carry you to Scar's."

"Oka-" Grian didn't even finish his sentence as he passed out.