Tessa’s Nightmares

I lied in my bed, staring at the ceiling. The whole room was dark, and it was around four in the morning. I’ve been having some nightmares recently, so I haven’t been able to get a lot of sleep. Which is not good, since I have to work in the morning. I suddenly heard a shuffle, followed by a small moan. I sat up grabbed the flashlight next to my bed, was I in another nightmare? I hesitated at first, but I turned on my flashlight, shining the bright light into the darkness. I then realized what was actually making the noises. It was my friend, Wendy.

Her, Bianca, and I all share the same room together, so we do sometimes wake each other up unintentionally. Wendy squinted her eyes as the bright light shined on her. She reached over and pushed the flashlight away, she then gave me a tired look, before readjusting her glasses.

“Tessa, why are you up so early?” Wendy asked, sounding like she was gonna fall asleep on the spot. “I noticed that you have been up for a bit, did you have another nightmare?” She added. Wendy actually sleeps in the bed next to me, and she’s a light sleeper. In other words, she’s woken up pretty easily. I nodded in response, then lied back down. Wendy sat on the edge of my bed, and smiled lightly. “You need some help getting back to sleep? I know you got a big day tomorrow.” Wendy asked. “Yeah... that would be great.” I replied as I rested my head on my pillow. “I could, tell you a story.” Wendy suggested. I smiled back and nodded. “I’d love that.” I said happily.

“Can I listen too?” An energetic voice asked quietly. I turned my flashlight back on, but covered some of it with my hand so it wouldn’t be so bright. It was Bianca, I suppose my conversation with Wendy woke her up. Bianca then climbed onto the bed, sitting next to Wendy. “Should you be sleeping? You’re still a kid.” Wendy asked. “But, you guys woke me up. I wanna hear the story.” Bianca said, refusing to leave. She may be the youngest of all of us, but she doesn’t like being told that she’s still a kid, even though she is thirteen. Not to mention, she’s only about four feet tall, so she doesn’t like being made fun of for her height either.

“Ok, I guess you can stay. However, you’re going back to bed once the story’s done.” Wendy told Bianca, who was thrilled that she could stay up at this time of night. Wendy was about to begin, when the door suddenly opened. Footsteps crept inside, as if whoever was doing so, was trying not to wake anyone up. Bianca grabbed my flashlight and shined it, revealing that it was our friend, Ruth, who turned around and was shocked to see us all awake. “U-Um, I was just... uh... sleepwalking...” Ruth said awkwardly. “Then why do you have a granola bar in your pocket?” I asked. Ruth saw the snack sticking out of her pocket, and sighed. “Alright, I was getting a midnight snack, I was hungry.” Ruth admitted as she took a bite of the snack.

“What’s going on here?” Ruth asked. Wendy began to explain everything to Ruth, while Bianca leaned closer to me. “Are you feeling any better?” She asked. I smiled and nodded in response, making Bianca smile back. Oh, she has the most precious smile. “So, you’re having nightmares, Tessa?” Ruth suddenly asked me. “Yeah, I had one not too long ago, that’s why I’m up.” I replied. “For some reason, the nightmares always happen in our room, and they’re always so realistic.” I continued. “What were you dreaming about?” Bianca asked. Before I could answer, Ruth butted in. “Are they about some freakish monsters or something, none of those things are real, ya know?” She asked, sound confident. “Well, sort of.” I answered. “I always see it, roaming around the room, looking at everything. It even comes over and looks at us. A few times, it would come over to me, so I would pretend to sleep, and that’s where I’d wake up.” I replied. “Was it an alien, or a werewolf?” Bianca asked. “It seems to be a different one each time.” I answered. “Pretty interesting...” Ruth said, looking like she thinking.

“So, what about that story, Wendy?” I ask, but then noticed that Wendy had fallen asleep right on my legs. “Well, I’m gonna go back to bed, see ya.” Ruth said as she got up. However, instead of leaving, she fell face first right onto Wendy’s bed, instantly blacking out. Bianca then inched a little closer to me, and held my hand. “Can I sleep with you?” She asked with a yawn. “Sure, I could use the company.” I said happily. Bianca curled up under the blankets next to me, and within two minutes, she was out like a light. I smiled as Bianca began making little actions in her sleep, sounding like she was having a better dream than the ones I was having.

That’s when I heard another noise, I figured Ruth or Wendy fell off their beds or something, so I was gonna reach for my flashlight, but I didn’t want to disturb Bianca.

I heard the footsteps approaching my bed. Figuring I was dreaming again, I pretended to sleep until it was all quiet again. I opened my eyes, thinking that I woken up from the dream, but I heard deep breathing above me. I looked up, and that’s when I realized the truth.

I was never dreaming.

Towering over me, was the creature I’ve been seeing in different forms. This time, I couldn’t exactly tell what it was. I just saw these two glowing eyes glaring back at me. I was about to scream, but my tiredness got the better of me, and I passed out. When I woke up again, it was morning. Everyone was still were they were moments before I fell asleep, and they were all waking up. I sighed in relief, knowing that everyone was alright. However, that’s when I saw a shadow of something walk past the door, that was open by a crack. A glowing eye quickly looked at me through the crack, before leaving. I think I’ll sleep someplace else tonight...