The only tangible way for dark projections to pave way into our lives is via a sleep nightmare. Now there could be other ways too, however highly implausible they sound, but for me it has always been through the dark gates of a dream. The bizarre thing however remains: I always wake up to find out my hand on my chest. From this visceral ghostly remark I make out that the hand part has always something to do with my sleep nightmares.
INEVITABILITY OF A NIGHTMARE
Indefiniteness of dreams is invariably surprising. You could be doing something really mundane and your nightmare could still pull you into a dark territory. It can give you a quick ephemeral shock just to feast on that surprised look on your face. One moment you are doing your regular chores and the second you know there is something ineffable trying to squeeze itself into your dream wiping off that smile from your face.
EXPOUNDING THE SETUP
There is this room where I hole up generally, working on my laptop in a sleeping position. I rarely choose ‘the lying on back’ position owing to the sheer fact my laptop is huge and heavy. So 15 minutes into what I am doing, I become a surefire epitome of exhaustion. Hence, I refrain from lying in that position. Also, when we go to sleep, we either leave our kitchen or washroom lights ON, since my roommates are kind of wimps. They can’t sleep if the lights are switched OFF. My sleeping location is right in front of my room’s door. So the light from the kitchen would directly fall on my head if I am gawking at it. This was to give you a positional idea.
THE SLEEP NIGHTMARE
I found myself lying on my back with my laptop in my lap. Different was the fact that I was completely covered by my blanket, so to say I was working inside my blanket would be correct. Through the teensy holes of the blanket I could make out the dim light that came from the kitchen. I often find myself sleeping in that position except that the laptop is never in my lap but I would gaze at the light coming from those tiny pores nevertheless. So it was kind of a subconscious that my mind might have projected.
I was simply closing some open windows to clean out the clutter which I normally do, whilst working on my system, when all of a sudden another window popped up automatically. An animated stick figure started dancing on that window, or moving around, it was hard to tell. But within that split second of horror, when I couldn’t figure out what was happening, those tiny pores from my blanket showed a dark figure appear at the door. Since the blanket insides only let an amount of light to pass through the picture I witnessed was simply fuzzy. In that mist however I could make out the contour of the stranger. A dark silhouette which stood there at the door, obscured well by the light of my laptop and the kitchen light in the backdrop, watching me for some time before hurling me towards reality.
All of that transitory horror in those ephemeral seconds woke me up no doubt. As I woke up, I found my hand on my chest again. It has become a usual thing now like a piece of puzzle that fits forever in the poetry of dusky and terrifying dreams. Therefore, I overlook this aspect now.
LODGED IN BRAIN
This sleep nightmare got lodged in my mind instantly, as I was well awake after that. The terror in it was so vexing that I had little time to think. If it was a ‘played out story’ like some of my dreams are, I might have done something about it, I surmise. Maybe try to get out of the blanket or freak out for a while looking at the faceless figurine. But it took my heartbeat to a whole new level; I could feel it. Something inexplicable pulled me out of that sleep nightmare before I could have a nervous breakdown I guess.