Dare To Dream

Dare to Dream is a story submitted by a user named Gidgey. It’s about a girl who has bad dreams after her brother was killed in a car accident.

Dare to Dream

She woke up gasping for air. She could still feel his tight fingers around her neck. She quickly switched the light on pulling the dark out of her room. She had been having the dream for a month now. It was the same each night. She would fall asleep. Then she would open them, this was the start of her dream.

First she would hear a quiet shuffling sound. She would roll over and the door would be cracked open. She knew she had closed it. Suddenly her brother would appear in front of her. His head bloody like it was when they found him dead in the street. It had been a hit and run. He was six years old. His name was Jake.

In the dream he would say, “Jessica, come with me.”

She always said “No!”

He would insist, but she wouldn’t say yes.

Jake would say, “Then I’ll make you!”

He would lock his small hands around her neck. He was strong for his age. She would look into his eyes, pleading. But his eyes weren’t the beautiful deep blue anymore. They were a hot, glowing red. As her vision began to blur from lack of oxygen he would laugh demonically.

Next thing she knew her eyes would flutter open and she would sputter and gasp trying to catch her breath. Then she would turn the light on so the dark shadows where he could be lurking disappeared.

Ever since the dream began she had become paranoid. Always she checked behind her to make sure no one was there. She would also keep the lights on most of the day. In her room she only had a mirror and a bed. She thought the less furniture she had, there would be less places for Jake to lurk. The only reason she had a mirror was because she loved them. Her house used to be full of mirrors. She wasn’t sure why she only allowed herself one mirror now.

Every morning, after the dream she would look in the mirror. She knew what she would see but she looked anyway. Sure enough, she had the distinctive purple bruises around her throat, just like always. She looked at her watch. It was 8:42. She put on a t-shirt and jeans and went into the yard. She sat on the bench and watched the clouds. She began to feel tired and decided to take a nap.

She opened her eyes and knew she was in the dream. She’d never had the dream during the day before, let alone outside. Jake came out from behind a large maple tree. He was smiling devilishly. It occurred to her that she had never asked him why he was here.

“Jake! Leave me alone! Why are you here?!” she screamed at him.

He walked closer. “You don’t know?” he said, sitting next to her.

“Don’t you know why you only have one mirror?” he asked.

She said no.

“Do you know why they stuck you in a mental ward instead of federal prison?” he said.

She suddenly remembered. She had an obsession with mirrors. She loved them. She was driving home from the store admiring her rear view mirror. She felt a bump in the road. She continued home and saw the police waiting in her drive way. They told her she had run over her brother.

She loved him so much. She had a mental breakdown, screaming gibberish and trying to force the police man to shoot her. They had to sedate her so she wouldn’t injure herself or others.

She pushed the memory to the back of her mind quickly forgetting it. She realized Jake had been inching closer. He clamped his hands around her throat. She gasped and choked for air. She remembered it was just a dream and she would wake up soon. She started losing consciousness. This was when she usually awakened.

But this time she didn’t.