Nightmare One

The darkness around me folds and takes shape as I walk. And then I stop, realizing that I’m nightmaring. Gritty skyscrapers rise right and left and I find myself swerving and crashing into faceless passerby. They stumble and keep on walking. Their faceless faces are smooth and blinding. Suddenly, I feel out of place and alone �" the latter emotion comforting rather than unsettling.

Should I wake up?

Should I stop walking?

My voice echoes horribly, rejected by the forming, spiraling skyscrapers around me and I realize that I didn’t actually speak out loud and that no one else is walking north. I don’t even understand how I know I’m walking north, but I am. Paper crinkles in my hand and when I glance down, a black Sharpie is rolling down the pavement, southward like all the faceless walkers.

Painfully, I crouch down and pick up the Sharpie. The texture of the paper morphes on one side into plastic and I feel as if I’m holding a sticky name tag, and I am. The black permanent marker uncaps itself and leaks; ink drips all over my arm and snakes its way onto the name tag.

Nightmarer, it writes and the name tag is now on my jacket, right above my heart. Oh, the nametag is mine…I guess?

I shrug and keep on walking, but a sharp pain grips my legs and I fall, taking down two Walkers with me. The Walkers ignore me, stand up stiffly, and continue strolling along the river running through the center of the city. When did a river get there?

As I try to stand up, I lose my balance and stumble into the river, soaking my sneakers.

A strong presence gnaws at my intuition. When I whip around, I spot a shadow �" a grotesque black stain in a city slowly being coated silver. The color makes my stomach turn and the shadow begins to move.

It’s him.

Pain surges into my hips now and I ignore it. I start running.

My mind feels muddled and my garbled thoughts continue to voice themselves out loud, drawing him to me no matter how much I try to lose him in the emerging silver landscape. A blanket of fog now wraps itself around the taller buildings and I remember that I haven’t moved from my couch or my computer desk in months. I stop to catch my breath, but remain on my feet, afraid that if I fall or sit, I’ll never be able to get back up again.

When I look back, no one is behind me. But I know he’s following me and I start running again. I’m not sure if I’m running north anymore and I usually never know where I’m going in the first place. But ironically, I do for once.

I’m running into a nightmare �" I’m nightmaring, again,  

Author's Note

Work In Progress