My Sweet Nightmares

I open my eyes and saw nothing but darkness, with a little moonlight peeping through the window. My breathing is heavy and my heart begins to beat fast.   Then I looked around and saw nothing familiar with this room. Where am I? What am I doing in here? I feel so confused and then suddenly I heard footsteps coming to the door. I panicked. I hide on the far side of the bed, curling down at my best. I begin to cry as I saw his shadow coming into the room.  He calls for my name.  "Lara??? Where are you???" He sweetly whispers as if he knew I was hiding somewhere in here. I crawl under the bed when I saw his shadow coming near to me. The room was still dark even with the few candles he brought. I begin to cry softly praying for my life.  Then he found me. "AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!", I scream.  That's when I waked up. My clothes were soaked in sweat and I saw my worried parents in tears again. This happened three times already this week. I embraced my mother whose sitting on my side. I began to contain my tears as my mother caress my back.   "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to do it again.", I told mom.  "It's alright my dear. Mommy's here for you.", she continuedly caresses my hair.  My dad went outside my room and when he came back, he handed me over a glass of milk and patted my head. "Come on, I think she will be alright.", he told my mom.  Then he carefully laid me down to bed and said, "Lara, you need to visit Dr. Morgan again tomorrow. I know you've been skipping your sessions and not taking your medicine. You need it for your own good." I just nodded my head and my eyes started to closed again.  MORNING  I went downstairs and found my family in the kitchen.  My mom, Ellaine, was flipping up pancakes at the stove while my dad, Morisse, was reading his daily newspaper.  My younger sister, Joanne was doing her artwork on our dining table.  "Good morning." I tiredly greeted my family.  My dad was still busy with his newspaper while my mom greeted me back with a smile.  "Good morning to you to my favorite freak!", said my brother who had just walked down the stairs.  "Stop that Riley! Sit down and so we can have our breakfast", said mom.  I shyly smiled at her and silently say thank you.  I am a middle child of 3 siblings and was considered peculiar by my family. From what I can remember, I had nightmares since I was young and in these nightmares, I was either hiding or running from a man who I think knows me well.  "Lara, I made an appointment with Dr. Morgan this afternoon. You will go there and listen to whatever she says. Are we clear?", my dad said.  "But dear, their midterm exam is approaching. You know she needs to focus on her study right now. As I said last night, I am the one who cancels those until their exam arrives", my mom interrupts.  "Honey, you know last night was the third nightmare she had this week. I understand your concern and I also value our kid's education but she needs a visit to Dr. Morgan." my dad argued.  "I know, but-", my mom was about to say something but my dad interrupted her. "She needs to go there and that is final."  I know my parents wanted to protect me and Dr. Morgan wanted to help me but sometimes I think they are hiding something from me.  Dr. Morgan is nice but whenever I visited her, news spread to my school and my classmates think that I had some mental issues that they were afraid of.  According to my brother, it may have to do with what happened when I was just 5 years old. I got lost while we were having a vacation trip in the woods. Three days had passed when they found me in an old house near the top mountain. Although I was dehydrated due to a lack of food and water, the doctor said I am fine. But the incident affected me and my nightmares began.  I could not recall what happened when I got lost but I had a feeling that it has something to do with this man.  By the time I was ten, my parents decided that I need professional help. We were introduced to Dr. Morgan by one of my father's colleagues.  She was a middle-aged psychiatrist who loves to give me snacks after our sessions. She was like a second mother to me. We used to have a session every Saturday however our midterm exam was approaching so I am missing these.  _______________________________________________________________________________________________ "Lara, sometimes stress triggers nightmares, do you agree?" Dr. Morgan said as I was interrupted with my thought.  "I think that's one of the reasons Doc," I answered as I looked outside the window. She has a beautiful garden with maple trees. The leaves started to wither. I got chill as I see those leaves reached the ground.  "Do you believe I can overcome this nightmare and they will eventually go away?" I asked.  " Yes, my dear. Just follow all my advice and you will be fine.",  she replied.  I just nodded and looked back outside of the window.  Fall is approaching.  ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Our midterm exam had ended and I know I did well.  Although I did not have enough sleep at night, I managed to pass all my exams. I went to St. Jude Academy, one of the exclusive schools in our town. It was an old school for girls build in late 1900 but had been rebuild and was now known for its Science program. Many changes had taken place including its acceptance of the opposite gender since the 1950s.  "Hi Lara!", Jenny said. She was my best friend. We have known each other since childhood and she understands my situation. "I heard you had a visit with Dr. Morgan again.", she continued.  "Hi Jenny!", I smile back genuinely. "Yes. I was exhausted studying for the exam so my nightmares visited me frequently and my parents think that I needed to have my sessions double this week", I replied.  We just finished all our classes and were in the locker hallway of our school. "So, now that we have finished all of those, do you think we can have some unwinding night?", she asked while making her eyebrows up and down.  "Yeah. But I still need to get permission from my parents", I replied. "So, what plans do you have in mind?", I asked "Since we got good grades, the teachers allowed us to have a vacation for the rest of the week. I am thinking that we can have a party at my parent's vacation house by the lake and stay there until the weekend.", she said. "I know the teachers will tell this to my parents immediately and with that news, I can easily persuade them to allow us to use that house. So, what do you think?", she continued with her face making that cute expression she always does.  Jenny was known as one of the popular girls in our school. She was a straight-A student with a beautiful angelic eye. Although I must admit, she has a childish manner that I find cute. Her parents own most of the luxurious restaurants we have in the country and a few hotels abroad. Although she was born with such wealth, she was down to Earth and very friendly. I remember she was the first one to approach me.  I was six years old and sitting alone in the backyard of our school. She approached me with a hug and said, "I think you're lonely, and I am lonely too. Let's be friends." From then on, we were inseparable.   "Hello!!!! Earth to Lara!", while she shook me.  "Alright. But I need to ask permission from my parents first.", I sheepishly answered.  I think she was satisfied with my answer because she stops talking and let me finished clearing up my things.  As soon as I closed my locker, she dragged me out. "I think Hayden was already outside flirting with those cheerleaders again.", she teased.  It was no surprise. Hayden was our friend who loves to brag about his look. Some say he looked like Brad Pitt when the actor was still young.  We found Hayden flirting with one of our cheerleaders, Tina.  "Hey, it's time to go home. Stop teasing Tina, you know she has a boyfriend. Aren't you afraid he might ruin your beautiful face?", Jenny warned Hayden.  "Your such a prune Jenny. I was just teaching Tina the answers to our exam in Math.", he answered denied.  "Whatever! Let's go, now.", Jenny replied.  Although Jenny and Hayden seem to argue all the time, they were very closed. Hayden treats me and Jenny as his stupid little sisters while we think of him as our pestering older brother.  "So, I heard your nightmares are getting worse", Hayden asked.  "Yeah, but I think it will be better soon. According to Dr. Morgan, stress sometimes can trigger these, and it's because of studying all those exams.", I answered.  "You know I got something for you.", he said as he rampaged inside his backpack.  "You know Lara, I really think you needed that unwinding night. It will help you relax more. You can mention that to your parents.", Jenny said with twinkling eyes.  I just smiled back at Jenny without answering.  "Here, have this. Put it on top of your bed.",  said Hayden as he handed me a brown bag.  I reached inside the bag and pulled out a dream catcher.  "That was beautiful! Why are you only giving that to her and nothing to me?", Jenny frowned.  "Thank you Hayden.", I sincerely said while I looked straight into his eyes.