Dangerous Mind by Amyrah Graham
The nighttime is so beautiful. Some people are inside getting ready to end the day, some are probably outside now getting the day started. The sky is full of stars and there are busy cars running through the streets, making them look alive. It would be just a normal night, at least for you. In my world, it may look like yours to the naked eye, but there is evil that lurks as soon as the sun sets at 6:00. It makes me afraid to go anywhere, to trust anyone. It makes me cautious, makes me scared of anything. It feeds off my fear. The sun has just set and I have to get prepared for my nightmares to come to life. I don’t know which fear it will choose for me today considering I have a lot, all I know is that I have to prepare for anything. “Okay River, you can do this. They’re just nightmares that can most likely kill you. Just try to get over whatever fear your mind throws at you today. Okay, you got this!” I say to myself in an attempt to make me feel less scared. It doesn’t work. I set my alarm for 6:00am. I don’t want to get stuck in another nightmare. As soon as my head hits the pillow, it starts. I’m in a warehouse. The walls and floor are rusty grey and there is no furniture. The first thing I notice is that there are no doors here, no windows, or crawl spaces either. It feels like I’m in a cell. It feels as if I’m on lockdown, like nobody is allowed in or out. It’s so quiet here, the silence is so loud my ears ring. The walls are closing in on me and it’s making it harder for me to breathe, somebody or something is stealing all my oxygen. My eyes are starting to water, I feel lightheaded, I feel like I’m going to faint. It won’t allow me to faint though because that is an easy escape from here. It knows that if I faint, I won’t hear this painful silence anymore. All I see are these grey walls that are slowly, but painfully, suffocating me to death. There is not one living, breathing soul around to help me. They told me I was going to be fine, but I feel like I’m dying. They told me these nightmares were temporary, that they would help me get through them but nobody’s here. They lied. Suddenly my throat becomes tighter, it feels like there are hands 58
