For prompt 4: Nightmares


Sleeping was hard. Not the bad dreams. (Sitting in bed at night, screaming into his pillow, so he didn't wake Jack. She needed sleep.)

Alex could deal with those.

School was hard. Not the threats of expulsion. (They held nothing against vivisection or organ harvesting.)

Living was hard. Not staying alive. (Breathe. Relax. You're not choking.)

The hard part was waiting.

When he went to bed, he was certain he would awake somewhere else. When he went to school, he looked for the black car waiting at the curb.

Because the real nightmares were those he walked through fully awake.


Themes: anxiety