It was a chilly Tuesday morning when Phil finally decided to tell Dan about his strange dreams. It was really playing on his mind and he was pretty sure that if he told somebody about them, they would go away.
They were both sat together on the sofa, laptops on knees, feeling somewhat bored, the fire lit and an awkward silence was beginning to make itself evident.
Phil turned to his friend ands cleared his throat,
"Dan," He started, "There's something I need to talk to you about…"
Dan immediately closed his laptop and turned to Phil – he'd learnt what that tone in his voice meant – something was definitely bothering him and, being the good friend he was, Dan would do whatever possible to help.
"What's wrong?" He asked, concerned.
"Uh… well… recently, I've been having these really weird and disturbing nightmares…" Phil replied, looking slightly embarrassed.
"What happens in them?" Dan asked.
"I don't really want to go into details, but they always end up with… you dying," and he turned away.
Dan smiled, sympathetically,
"They'll pass, don't worry," he assured him.
"Do you have dreams, Dan?" Phil asked.
"Of course I do," Dan replied, nodding, "Pretty bad ones, too, most of the time: dreams about the world ending and whatnot. Lots of people die in those."
"Do I die?"
"No."
"See, they aren't as bad as mine, then. These are graphic, too. Every night for a week now," Phil sighed, burying his face in his knees, "It's stupid, isn't it? I'm 30 years old, I shouldn't be getting bothered by dreams."
"No, it's not stupid, Phil, it happens to everyone," Dan said, rubbing his friend's shoulder, "I mean, it must be traumatising for it to happen every night. How exactly do I die?"
"Varies. Last night you were shot and the night before that, you were mauled to death by a rabid dog. Woke me up at 3 in the morning and I didn't sleep after that."
"Is that why you were all grumpy that morning?" Dan sniggered.
Phil smiled and nodded, slowly,
"But anyway. Hopefully they'll go away tonight now I've told you about them. I'm really tired still, I hardly got any sleep last night…"
"Go and lie down," Dan suggested, "We can go out for coffee at 12 so you have a few hours of rest."
"Good idea," Phil agreed, standing up, "I'll set my alarm."
"Sweet dreams, Phil," Dan smiled.
Phil laughed,
"I hope…"