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A tale of a boy and his dreams, and the terrors that lie within. |
| [Introduction]
Dreams. To some, they are a pleasant escape from reality. To others, they are literal nightmares. Remember when you were a child, and maybe you were afraid to go to sleep for fear of something under your bed or in your closet getting you? Or perhaps you had night terrors that seemed all too real, due to your young age and naive mind. If you can remember what that was like, then maybe you'll sympathize with young Jimmy. He's your average eight year old, with a not so average problem. You see, Jimmy's dreams have taken a rather dark turn lately. Every night for the last week, he's awoken in a cold sweat, screaming for his parents. It's getting to the point where Jimmy is afraid to go to sleep at all! But only by facing his fears and overcoming them within the dreamscape, can his dreams go back to normal. To do so, Jimmy will find himself coming face to face with those things we all feared as children, in addition to his personal fears. (I decided to try a different sort of story with this one, focusing on the perspective of a younger protagonist, as well as a more psychological aspect. This story will be somewhat less mature than my usual works, so please no sexual or otherwise explicit stuff.) |
| Jimmy lay in the darkness of his bedroom, his blanket pulled up over his face. Only the light of the moon shining through the window gave any semblance of illumination. For the last week in a row, he was barely able to sleep because whenever he closed his eyes, his mind was filled with visions of unspeakable terrors. Normally, his dreams were quite cheerful. One night he might be a superhero fighting villains, another he was an astronaut rocketing through the cosmos. But for some unexplained reason, his dreams suddenly became...well, terrifying. Especially for a boy his age. He knew it couldn't be the outside influence of any movie he had seen, as he was far too young to watch those kinds of films. In his eight year old mind, there was only one possible explanation. Some sort of evil force was invading his dreams. For what reason, who could say? As he pondered this, he remembered the words of his parents. "The only way to beat your fears is to face them." He knew what he had to do, but did he have the courage to do it? Deep down, he knew regardless of the answer, if he didn't do something he may never be able to sleep again. Taking several deep breaths, he cleared his mind of all thought, and focused on falling asleep. When he opened his eyes, he was standing in a seemingly infinite hallway, lined with countless doors. He remembered this dream well. Each door lead to a different dreamscape, each more corrupted than the last. Some of the doors had scratching sounds coming from behind them, others pounding, and more still had screams or indiscernible whispers. He knew he had to start somewhere, so he approached a door that he heard a female voice calling his name from, took a deep breath, and pushed the door open. |
| And sitting in a chair, wearing a Christmas Sweater, and reading a book, was a female werewolf. "Been waiting for you kiddo," she said. |
| The werewolf smiled, and motioned for Jimmy to come closer. "It's alright, I'm here to help you." She said. Jimmy hesitantly stepped further into the room "Who are you?" He asked "What do you mean you've been waiting for me?" |
| "Think of me as something of a Spirit Guide," the werewolf said, as she set the book down. "Good read by the way." |
| "Uhhh...Thank you." Jimmy said, still a tad unsure about getting closer to his lupine hostess. |
| "Can you tell me why my dreams are so scary?" Jimmy asked after a long pause. There werewolf nodded "Indeed I can. Tell me, does the name "Jenny" ring a bell?" Jimmy shook his head, and the werewolf sighed. "Then it's worse than I thought. You see, Jenny is the cause of all your nightmares lately." "But who is this Jenny, anyway?" She used to be your imaginary best friend when you were three. You were practically inseparable, until you started daycare and made real friends, then you forgot all about her." "So, what happened to her?" "For the last five years, she's tried to get through to you, with no success. So, she's decided to get her revenge on you by taking over your dreams and turning them into nightmares. As a figment of your mind, she knows everything that you're afraid of. She'll use your fears against you every chance she gets. That's why I'm here to help you." "How?" "Because this is your dream, you can control it to an extent. If you concentrate really hard, you can change any aspect of your dreams. You'll have to visit each realm of your mind, and undo what Jenny has done, if you wish to have your normal dreams again." "So, you'll teach me, right?" The werewolf smiled and nodded. "That's why I'm here." She pointed across the room to another door. "Behind that door is the entity all young children fear, commonly referred to as the Boogeyman. I'm going to open the door, and I want you to concentrate on altering the dreamscape into something not scary. Can you do that?" Jimmy gulped, but nodded. He at least had to try. The werewolf opened thedoor. Behind it was darkness, with only two glowing red eyes visible. "Come on, Jimmy, focus!" Jimmy closed his eyes and tried to imagine the Boogeyman as something silly, like a clown or maybe a cartoon character. He opened his eyes and... |
| He found himself looking at a cute bunny rabbit, in a meadow filled with lush green grass. "That was easy," he said. "First steps usually are," the werewolf said, walking up to the rabbit. She pointed to a dark forest. "Now, head that way. I'll be right along. I'm just a little peckish." Jimmy started running towards the forest, determined to have nice dreams again. "Think this will work?" the rabbit asked, as it morphed into a black shadowy figure with red eyes. "I wasn't wrong last time," the werewolf said. "Kid needs to have some confidence if he's going to deal with Jenny." "I'll keep my distance," the shadowy figure said. "Just in case." |
| The werewolf smiled wolfishly as she looked at the shadowy figure and gave a subtle nod towards the darkening forest... "Now go on ahead and distract Jimmy while I sit back and enjoy the dream world," The shadow dispersed into a dense purple mist and headed straight towards the forest, where dreams and illusions lay just ahead. Jimmy had no idea what he was walking into. As Jimmy crept into the forest's glades, he heard a high pitched noises, similar to birdsong but more insistent. Harp songs seemed to come from the very forest itself. Jimmy looked around the psychedelic forest as the forest turned alternating hues of black, red and gold. Something strange was within this forest, and he had to discover the source... |
| As Jimmy tried to head to where the harp music was coming from, a strange multi-colored fog started to envelop him. |
| Despite the fact that he knew he was dreaming, Jimmy could actually feel the fog brush against his skin as it went past him, and it felt strangely familiar. "It's good to see you again, Jim." Said a voice that seemed to be coming from the fog itself. "Who are you?" Jimmy said, and the fog began to shape itself into a more solid form, until a cat with rainbow colored fur sat before him. It leaped into his arms and purred as it snuggled against him. Now it all came rushing back. "Iris?" The cat nodded. "It's been a long time, Jimmy. I was worried you wouldn't remember me." Iris had been another creation of Jimmy's imagination when he was a toddler. He wanted to get a pet, but his parents felt he was too young. So, he created Iris in his mind, pretending to play and talk with her. "What is this place?" Jimmy asked "This is the Forest of the Forgotten. The part of your mind where all the things you've left behind as you've gotten older dwell. This is where your old friend Jenny ended up, or as she calls herself now, The Nightmare Queen." "Do you know where she is now?" "I can take you to her, but first we need to get out of this forest. We must be extremely careful, there are more of your creations in these woods, and some of them are not as forgiving as I am." "Yeah, about that..." Jimmy started, but Iris cut him off "I understand why you outgrew me. There's no need to explain. Now, follow me. It's going to be a long journey." |
| It was then that Jimmy heard an odd sound. "Uuuurrrp!" "Nice one," said Iris. "Rabbits are tasty," the werewolf said, as she came from behind a nearby tree. |
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