Fear. It's such a simple word, but its interpretation can bend and change depending on who you are.

Fear could mean spiders, clowns, heights, abandonment, the unknown.

The list goes on and on, doesn't it?

So let's get a little more specific. Now in this example,

the things that terrify you most are manifesting into a vivid nightmare. Maybe you saw something

move in the shadows, an imperceptible shift that shouldn't be possible. Or you heard light

laughter from around the corner. You amble around in pure darkness,

reaching for something, anything, that can act as a light or a weapon. But you find nothing.

Or worse, you do find something, but it's attached to a creature that has long, jagged

fingernails.

It's stitched together out of shadows, slowly moving closer with each disjointed step.

Its bright yellow eyes are focused solely on you.

It reaches toward you, whispering your name.

And then you wake up from your nightmare.

You take stock of everything around you.

Your bed, your pillows, your comforter,

that painting on the wall that you got at a random yard sale.

It's all there. You're safe. You're awake.

But there's always that small part of you that wonders if you're still dreaming. After all,

experiences like this aren't uncommon.

Strange things have happened to nearly everyone you know. So you do your best to write them off as circumstance or oddity. Coincidence. Because surely, there has to be some sort of logic to it all, and that logic wouldn't exist in dreams.

You decide finally that you're awake, that you exist.

...