The Nightmare

The Nightmare

 

Deep in the night, in the time of stillness and shadows and things go bump in the night, I lay alone in that place which lies between sleep and wakefulness. The place where dreams live. That place that is...yet isn’t. Where dreams come to life and nightmares are real,

Very...very real.

 

 I hear them coming.......

 

“DEMONS”

 

 Snarling hungrily, hunting,

calling out to one another.

I turn and run, crashing through

the underbrush. I fight and claw my way

through the thorns and brambles.

 

The wild place I find myself

running through seems to attempt

to hold me back. Vines try to trip me,

trees try to grasp my clothing.

 

But the fear is in me now,

pushing me faster,

forcing me to fight my way free.

They draw nearer. My breath burns

in my chest. I look back to see

them crashing, bursting through the

underbrush at my heels.

I scream out in anguish to God,

 

“FATHER SAVE ME.”

 

Suddenly I burst into the sunlight

through what I thought was trees.

Calmness washes over me

and the fear begins to fade.

I hear His voice saying

 

“You are safe here child.

None can harm you.”

 

I wiped the tears from my eyes

and looked around the sunlit glade

I see that it was not trees I passed through,

but angelic warriors, armed for battle,

facing outward like a mighty wall.

 

I fall into The Light sobbing in relief,

thanking Him for saving me

 

I thought I was lost with no hope

of being saved. He spoke from out

of the Light saying,

 

“I was there all the time, waiting for you

to call on my name.”

 

Suddenly the dream world begins to fade from view and I opened my eyes to see sunlight streaming through my window at the dawning of a new day.

Author's Note

Image by Robert Anderson

Reviews

[Christina May Shanaberg]

A beautiful image. This was a writing filled with imagery! What more can I say, this was simply astounding. You have created a world of dreaming or longing to escape life's fears and brought them to the common point of your support with your faith and angels were, always, standing there to protect you, even though you ran amongst them, thinking them trees. This was much like some jungle fight imagery that I have seen written. When you stand back and look, you realize that you always had protection. Wonderfully written; poetry at its best!