Bad Dreams-

GAoBaM

Wind dances through the trees outside my window, the sun just barely peeking over the horizon as the night fell, the moon settling in its place. Sleep wisps through the house like a river, but not a sound was heard. It almost seemed as if the world, for once, was at peace as my eyelids began to get heavy, slowly becoming engulfed in sleep. Or... For just a minute or two.

The silence was broken by the sound of knocking against glass. Not by human hands, but just a little tap. The kind of sound that would unnerve most people, but not me. Dismissing it soon after, returning to the world of rather, in my case, nightmarish dreams. Then I heard it again. Cracking open an eyelid, dim light flooding my vision, I peered over at the digital clock on my nightstand.

It read 12:36. Midnight.

Please, please don't be what I think it is...

I sluggishly threw back the covers, and instantly it felt as if it had gotten a few degrees cooler. It was a chilly night, tonight.

Trudging sleepily across the carpet, my eyes narrowed as I spotted yet another pebble aimlessly bouncing off of my window. Just as I'd feared.

As I undid the latch, sliding the window up just high enough to peer my head out, I had just barely managed to dodge another bit of debris hurdling my way.

"Hey, Mandy! Psst!"

Suddenly finding myself feeling even more cranky at the sound of his voice,

I practically hissed my response, just barely being audible.

"Billy, what are you doing here? Do you know what time it is, you twit?"

My voice lowering dangerously as those last couple of words slipped past my lips.

"I had a nightmare." He began to cower away slightly, appearing jumpy at every little sound. He gave a bush a particularly hard stare before he dropped his guard again. I paused, pinching the space between my eyes, where the bridge of a nose should be. He looked back up at me with pleading eyes.

"Well, what do you want me to do about it?" As he prepared a response, I quickly cut him off. "And you can forget about getting a bedtime story..." He flashed a look of disappointment, tucking his hands behind his back.

"But I can't go back there! The clowns'll get me!" I glared down on him as tears started to well up in his eyes, I listened as he began to sniffle pathetically.

He meant well, but God was he a pain.

I observed his tear-stained face, and raised my chin in the air, as if judging his helplessness. I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Looks like you're going to have to sleep in the doghouse again, huh?"

His saddened state didn't faze me in the slightest. Instead I was just about to bid him goodnight, when a bitter, cold breeze whipped through my window, chilling me to the bone. I closed it just a bit.

"M-M-Mandy, wait-"

"Goodnight, sleep tight, and don't let the ticks bite." Sliding the window all the way back down, I happen to notice him shivering uncontrollably from the cold.

I furrowed my brow, and hardened my heart. He won't win this time.

I began my voyage back to bed. Glancing at the clock again, I realized I had already lost a good amount of beauty rest, as it was about 12:42.

Stupid Billy...

Bundling back into my warm blankets, laying my head on my pillow, I no longer heard little rock bits hitting my window pane. Instead, silence befell again, inviting me back to sleep.

But I couldn't accept.

It was a long night, that night. At least for me, it was. Spending the rest of the hours with a Billy cuddled up beside you isn't exactly what you'd call a sound night's sleep.

He stirred, nuzzling his face in my hair. Curse my conscience... Useless. I didn't even know I had one of those. Throughout the night, the bed's temperature had considerably risen periodically. Naturally I moved further away, but he just clung closer. He was harder to get rid of than a cockroach.

Eventually his breathing began to slow, returning to normal. He loosened his death grip on my arm, obviously fast asleep. I took this opportunity to turn on my opposite side, away from the parasite that's infested my bed for the night, leaving me with about an inch of space left. He had the entire half of the mattress, but he chose my side.