Ilaf Quraish

I could feel myself drifting to sleep. The glass of wine had put a steady surreal hum in my head. Slowly now…slowly. My eyes shut. The darkness began to fade from existence as my consciousness trailed behind. Slowly…

Dreams are hard to remember, there was nothing particularly interesting about this one…A close friend of a friend was sitting with me in the back seat of a car. It was late, and the yellowish-orange streetlamps kept whizzing by. I was trying to convince him not to go somewhere – probably the upper floor of the tower we were approaching. He was confused as to what I was trying to say.

I woke up, regained consciousness. For a few oblivious seconds I lay there. I was lying down flat on my back, with everything beyond my neck concealed under the comforter. I made a feeble attempt at thinking about the dream, but naturally decided I’d rather go to sleep. I wanted to shift my legs and turn sideways. I couldn’t. My legs were pinned down, they started feeling numb. Just then I felt strong pressure upon my chest. Something was now holding me down – all four limbs and chest. My heart sank in an instant as my eyes struggled to see in the absolute darkness. As my pupils adjusted I realized my neck muscles were still working. In a desperate attempt to free myself I looked to my right where most of the bed lay. Two eyes- no body, no shape, no pupils- two blank but slit gleaming eyes stared it me. Was it anger?

Suddenly I felt as though two nails had dug deep into my right arm. The pain processed and I yelped. Suddenly all the power that held me down was relieved. I jumped out of bed and ran to light switch.

The dimmer flooded the room with light.

I was alone. Of course I was alone. Was it all a dream? As reached for the switch I noticed: two red marks indented the skin on my forearm…