The Sleep of the Just

[the_wanlorn]

He sat down across from her. "You don't have bad dreams very often, do you?" She looked up in surprise. "How'd you know that?" "You seemed pretty upset by the one you had. People who have frequent nightmares are usually less bothered by them." ~ The Stuff of Dreams, by Darcie It's true, you know. Unless it was a truly horrific nightmare, you stop reacting to them. Just another night. It's kind of funny. When you have constant nightmares, you stop referring to them as such. They're commonplace, for you. In technical terms, you don't dream, you nightmare. But, in a way, that's what they become. "Just another dream." You still wake up with your heart in your throat, shaking from the adrenaline that's flooded your system. The reason why it's different from someone who hardly ever has nightmares is because you know how to deal with it. It doesn't feel any different, you can just stifle the nervous twitches and the pounding heart and the sweaty palms, because you're so used to it. But some effects don't go away like that. Some things you never tell anyone. Just afraid to go back to sleep. A long time ago, there was a little girl named Erin. And every time she had a dream, every time she woke up in a cold sweat, she'd right it down in a dream journal. Sometimes, the same dream would be written over and over and over again, for nights on end: a ladle; a box maze; a gray world. She used to wish upon a star that she would have one, just one, normal dream. When that didn't work, she burned her dream journal, thinking it would destroy the nightmares and set her free. And when that didn't work, she gave up and accepted them with open arms. It became her motto, said every morning before breakfast. Just a nightmare. Maybe I can go to sleep now. Just a reason to stay awake.