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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Adults
- Theme: Mystery
- Subject: Horror / Scary
- Published: 07/08/2017
Bad Dreams and Night Bears
Born 1964, F, from Gordon, ACT, AustraliaFreda was terrified. No matter how hard she ran, she could still hear it closing in, its huge clawed feet ripping up the ground behind her. It was too dark to see, but she could smell its rotten meat breath panting behind her, could feel the ground shake as its huge body slammed into the earth, over and over.
Her foot caught on a … rock? tree root? She pinwheeled gracelessly through the air before thudding to the ground. No, not the ground. Too soft. Her bed! Thank God, her bed!
Freda propped her pillows up behind her and turned on the bedside lamp. She could feel her heart pounding through her entire body, and her hands trembled with the aftershock of her terrible dream. She’d had the same dream a dozen times now. At first, she thought she’d imagined the subtle changes as the dream sequence progressed, but now she was sure. It was getting closer. She had no idea what might happen if it finally caught her, and she most sincerely did not WANT to know.
She smelled its wildness, its insanity for a moment longer before the scent slowly faded out of real life and into memory. But it was a long time before she slipped back into sleep.
The dream came again three nights later.
Freda ran for her life in the dark, feeling her pursuer’s stinking breath puffing against her bare legs. This time it wasn’t a rock or a tree root that tripped her, but a massive set of claws raking across her ankles. Again she landed on the ground, thinking “this is it, I’m about to die”. Again she awoke, sweating and shaking, her ankles burning with pain.
She lay there for a moment, waiting for the imaginary pain to fade before scooting into a sitting position and turning on the light.
Something sighed and grunted under her bed.
Freda’s breath caught in her throat, and fear radiated down to her toes. She felt a brief warmth as her bladder let go. Her ankles throbbed and burned in time with her heartbeat. She coughed and hitched in enough breath to keep from suffocating. The next breath was enough to unleash a wailing scream that brought a pair of rumpled parents out of their bed and into her bedroom. Lights on.
Her mum knelt by the bed. “What’s wrong, honey”. Yawn.
Freda sobbed and covered her face. “I had a nightmare and I woke up but now it’s under the BEEEDDDD!!”
Her mum looked doubtfully at the dark space in question before standing up and taking a few steps backwards. “Men’s work”, she declared, and stalked out of the room.
Her dad sighed and knelt at the food of the bed. “Nope, nothing there.” He wrinkled his nose “Did you wet the bed?” Nod. “I’ll get your mother.”
Once he had gone, Freda gingerly pushed the bed covers to the end of the bed and examined her sore ankles, watching as the last vestiges of the catastrophic wounds dimmed and faded from sight, as did the blood that had soaked into the sheets. After a few moments, there was no sign of injury at all. Just the memory of slashing pain and looming death.
Sleep was a very long time coming that night.
And the night after that.
Freda was too scared to sleep, but exhaustion caught up with her on the third night and sent her into the deepest, darkest sleep. Where she dreamed of being chased in the dark by something with hard gleaming teeth. Something that wanted nothing more than to savagely shred her and eat the pieces.
She sat up in bed, trembling and gasping for breath, her chest burning with fear. There was a wild smell in the room that reminded her of the zoo. Something shifted in the dark corner of her room. The moonlight filtering through the window dimly revealed a shadowy mass that nearly reached the ceiling, and briefly glinted off piggy eyes and a wet snout. The figure shrank as it dropped to all fours and clicked slowly over the floor towards the bed. No hurry now.
Freda groped towards the lamp, nearly knocking it off the bedside table. The beast looked up at the sudden light, and wrinkled its upper lip, displaying long stained teeth. Was it a bear? Was it a bear in her room? The smell was appalling. Dirty matted fur, blood, rotten meat. Freda had never been in the presence of violent death, but had no doubt that was what she was smelling here.
The bear squinted and blinked in the light before turning its bulk around and walking away, dissolving and disappearing as it went. One last look over its shoulder, bloodshot eyes filled with hate and greed before it vanished, leaving nothing in its wake but a wild beast smell.
Freda sat in bed, frozen with fear. She thought about going into her parents’ room, but the idea of putting her feet in the dark space under the bed was paralysing. Maybe she would be safer staying where she was, the bear didn’t seem to like the light after living in the dark for so long. Maybe she could just sit here with the light on until morning. There was no way she was falling asleep again tonight anyway, she thought as she drifted into that slippery gap between wake and sleep.
Something growled and shook her bed. The lamp was yanked off the bedside table and smashed on the floor, plunging Freda into nightmare darkness.
And then she found out what would happen if the beast finally caught her.
In the moonlight, a stray brown hair swayed gently to the ground and disappeared.
Bad Dreams and Night Bears(Hazel Dow)
Freda was terrified. No matter how hard she ran, she could still hear it closing in, its huge clawed feet ripping up the ground behind her. It was too dark to see, but she could smell its rotten meat breath panting behind her, could feel the ground shake as its huge body slammed into the earth, over and over.
Her foot caught on a … rock? tree root? She pinwheeled gracelessly through the air before thudding to the ground. No, not the ground. Too soft. Her bed! Thank God, her bed!
Freda propped her pillows up behind her and turned on the bedside lamp. She could feel her heart pounding through her entire body, and her hands trembled with the aftershock of her terrible dream. She’d had the same dream a dozen times now. At first, she thought she’d imagined the subtle changes as the dream sequence progressed, but now she was sure. It was getting closer. She had no idea what might happen if it finally caught her, and she most sincerely did not WANT to know.
She smelled its wildness, its insanity for a moment longer before the scent slowly faded out of real life and into memory. But it was a long time before she slipped back into sleep.
The dream came again three nights later.
Freda ran for her life in the dark, feeling her pursuer’s stinking breath puffing against her bare legs. This time it wasn’t a rock or a tree root that tripped her, but a massive set of claws raking across her ankles. Again she landed on the ground, thinking “this is it, I’m about to die”. Again she awoke, sweating and shaking, her ankles burning with pain.
She lay there for a moment, waiting for the imaginary pain to fade before scooting into a sitting position and turning on the light.
Something sighed and grunted under her bed.
Freda’s breath caught in her throat, and fear radiated down to her toes. She felt a brief warmth as her bladder let go. Her ankles throbbed and burned in time with her heartbeat. She coughed and hitched in enough breath to keep from suffocating. The next breath was enough to unleash a wailing scream that brought a pair of rumpled parents out of their bed and into her bedroom. Lights on.
Her mum knelt by the bed. “What’s wrong, honey”. Yawn.
Freda sobbed and covered her face. “I had a nightmare and I woke up but now it’s under the BEEEDDDD!!”
Her mum looked doubtfully at the dark space in question before standing up and taking a few steps backwards. “Men’s work”, she declared, and stalked out of the room.
Her dad sighed and knelt at the food of the bed. “Nope, nothing there.” He wrinkled his nose “Did you wet the bed?” Nod. “I’ll get your mother.”
Once he had gone, Freda gingerly pushed the bed covers to the end of the bed and examined her sore ankles, watching as the last vestiges of the catastrophic wounds dimmed and faded from sight, as did the blood that had soaked into the sheets. After a few moments, there was no sign of injury at all. Just the memory of slashing pain and looming death.
Sleep was a very long time coming that night.
And the night after that.
Freda was too scared to sleep, but exhaustion caught up with her on the third night and sent her into the deepest, darkest sleep. Where she dreamed of being chased in the dark by something with hard gleaming teeth. Something that wanted nothing more than to savagely shred her and eat the pieces.
She sat up in bed, trembling and gasping for breath, her chest burning with fear. There was a wild smell in the room that reminded her of the zoo. Something shifted in the dark corner of her room. The moonlight filtering through the window dimly revealed a shadowy mass that nearly reached the ceiling, and briefly glinted off piggy eyes and a wet snout. The figure shrank as it dropped to all fours and clicked slowly over the floor towards the bed. No hurry now.
Freda groped towards the lamp, nearly knocking it off the bedside table. The beast looked up at the sudden light, and wrinkled its upper lip, displaying long stained teeth. Was it a bear? Was it a bear in her room? The smell was appalling. Dirty matted fur, blood, rotten meat. Freda had never been in the presence of violent death, but had no doubt that was what she was smelling here.
The bear squinted and blinked in the light before turning its bulk around and walking away, dissolving and disappearing as it went. One last look over its shoulder, bloodshot eyes filled with hate and greed before it vanished, leaving nothing in its wake but a wild beast smell.
Freda sat in bed, frozen with fear. She thought about going into her parents’ room, but the idea of putting her feet in the dark space under the bed was paralysing. Maybe she would be safer staying where she was, the bear didn’t seem to like the light after living in the dark for so long. Maybe she could just sit here with the light on until morning. There was no way she was falling asleep again tonight anyway, she thought as she drifted into that slippery gap between wake and sleep.
Something growled and shook her bed. The lamp was yanked off the bedside table and smashed on the floor, plunging Freda into nightmare darkness.
And then she found out what would happen if the beast finally caught her.
In the moonlight, a stray brown hair swayed gently to the ground and disappeared.
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