before this next story. I'd like to say thank you to my new patrons,

Dragon the Jotin, Tammy, and Nicholas. If you'd like to support the podcast,

go to patreon.com slash drno sleep. The link is also in the description below.

I stood next to the well in the dark. The wind stirred the papery leaves on the cornstocks,

creating a sound like two sheets of sand paper rubbing together.

It was a sound I'd long ago grown used to, but it did nothing to mask the whimpering coming from

the old well. I stood there for what seemed like a long time, just staring at the dark hole

created by the circle of stone and mortar. My little brother's voice came from inside the house,

calling out a name. A violent shiver caused me to convulse. That name, a light came on in a

window behind me, spilling out onto the nearby dirt in a glowing rectangle.

My brother called the name again, this time with more urgency. I stepped closer to the edge

of the well and bent at the waist to look down. The whimpering grew louder, bouncing off the walls

of the disused well. Staring down into that darkness, I began to shake. Not a single shiver,

ear and gone, but an endless vibration with its source deep inside me, much deeper than any well.

My teeth chattered and eyelids fluttered. My flannel pajamas seemed suddenly heavy and

unbearably uncomfortable against my skin. I wanted nothing more than to move away from the well,

but I couldn't. I looked down, shaking as the whimpering grew louder and louder.

But it changed suddenly, morphing into a yipping growl, and then a vicious snarl.

Glowing red eyes suddenly appeared at the bottom of the well, a moment later, sharp teeth emerged

in the darkness, snapping and gnashing. Those eyes and teeth vaulted up out of the well,

brushing straight at me, stood there, unable to move, and the beast closed in.

My eyes shot open. I found myself in my bed, huffing and sweating.

...