unexpected escape to halloween town

part one of one

my eyes were closed. my body felt peaceful. my mind was put at ease.

this was unusual.

normally, i wouldn't feel this comfortable. ever. was i even at home?

that question was answered as soon as i opened my eyes. i was in a bed, yeah, obviously, but the bed wasn't in my home. it wasn't in my neighborhood. it didn't even look like it was in a place i knew.

there were halloween decorations up everywhere. jack o' lanterns made up most of the light sources. cartoon-looking gravestones had unfamiliar names carved into them. the cool breeze would occasionally make the "gravestone" wobble a bit in the wind.

screech!

i mildly jumped in my place. a noise had stripped me of my observational thought process. it sounded like some metal being loud due to rust building up at its edges.

i looked around with a subtle tilt of my head. it was dark outside, but the lighting of the area had an ambiance that seemed like there would be people roaming around. i couldn't spot any forms of human existence other than myself, and that built up anxiety in my chest. with each unsettling observation about this mysterious location, i felt my stance and body getting tenser, stiffer.

i decided to get up on my feet. maybe a little walk around this place would put my mind at ease again, even if that sense of serenity was only a temporary mania to the puzzling ways of the world.

the grass squelched under my shoes, it seemed to be newly watered.

...interesting.

as i familiarized myself more and more with the area, i wanted to return back to the bed. this all seemed too bizarre to be real. maybe when i slept again, i would return to my daily life.

my slow walking steps turned into faster ones. the pace of my walking turned into a slow jog. then a faster jog. i was running, my bed was nowhere to be found.

not again.

i just wanna sleep.

i don't wanna be restless all the time, please.

i just wanna sleep normally.

i don't wanna face the suffering of tomorrow with no rest.

my eyes can close but my mind never does.

i just need a sense of rest.

i... need... a...

oh! there's the bed.

i tucked myself in and closed my eyes.

maybe one day i'll arrive at a place like this and finally be able to sleep again.

oh, how i longed for such a sense of relief.