My Worst Nightmare

I just thought of a dream I once had that scared the crap out of me. To this day, I don't know what was real or what was my imagination. Pretty freaky stuff.

This was one of those nightmares I hope never to experience again. I have to set up the background information before narrating the dream itself. I lived with Jim and Carrie (Orem, UT) for about four months before my mission. They lived in an older home that had a trap door in the hallway, when opened, led you down to an unfinished basement which was comprised of concrete and block walls (approximately 200 sq ft). There were no windows or other entrances other than the trap door in the hallway, so when the light was off, it was pitch black at all times. During the winter it would get so cold down there, I would lie in my bed underneath my electric blanket and watch my breath steam in the air as I would exhale. That was actually kind of fun. However, it was Halloween night, 1993. Jim and Carrie were gone for some reason, I don't remember. I thought I could be a big boy and watch one of the scary movies that were on that night. Have you ever seen The Shining? If you have, you know it's not the most uplifting movie. If you haven't seen it... DON'T! That night I watched it for the first time--alone. I was okay during the movie, and even after I got in bed down in the cold, dark, echoing basement-room I was fine. Yes, I was okay until I woke up in the middle of the night to a cat at the foot of my bed. Being that I was half asleep, I thought, "Oh, it's just Ammy (our cat back home in California)." Then I remembered I wasn't in California. I kicked my feet, and sure enough, it was a cat. It meowed a very eerie meow, almost sounding like a dying animal, but at the same time being soft and faint. My heart began jumping around in my chest. The lamp was about three feet away on the dresser, but I was too scared to reach over and turn it on. I finally mustered up the courage to do so, and was just about ready to extend my arm toward the lamp, but the cat let out a blood curdling meow and scurried off into the vast darkness. I immediately jerked my body down and pulled the blanket up to my chin. My eyes wandered around unsuccessfully to see anything in that room which was dark as pitch. The only sound was my heavy breathing. I couldn't bare darkness any longer, so I reached over to the lamp to turn it on. As I did so, a dim voice sounded off in my ears whispering a wicked tone, "I would not do that if I were you." The fear of death was now in control of my mind. I couldn't keep my eyes open. Even in the darkness I held my eyes shut tightly. It was my only hope to escape this sudden delirium. A faint red glare then appeared through my eyelids. I opened them quickly to see the source of its light. The wall behind the lamp glittered with the word R-E-D-R-U-M in blood-red (reverse the order of that word). "I'm dreaming. Wake up! Wake up! I told myself. Turn on the lamp!" I proceeded to do so. The lamp came on, but shone in a red tint. The entire room was then lit in a scarlet hue. No one was there. The writing was gone from the wall. The air seemed even colder now, but I broke out in a sweat. I just froze there as my eyes observed my surroundings. The only desire I had was to get out of that cold basement, but I was too scared to move. I turned the lamp off for a split second, and turned it back on in hopes that the regular white light would be restored to the room. The room then illuminated in its regular lighting and I breathed a sign of relief. I got back in bed with the light on and lay there for what seemed to be hours. My heavy breathing soon became normal. I closed my eyes to go back to sleep, only to later awake in sudden terror as my room was again dark as pitch. That same fiend-of-a voice echoed in my ears, "You are not alone!" I couldn't bear hearing that wicked whisper again. I resolved to run! I was familiar with the room enough to make it in the dark; and I jumped out of bed toward the wooden stairs. As I approached the stairs, my hands flailed before me, trying to avoid anything of danger to me. I ran up the stairs and threw open the trap door. It was morning. A bright yellow glare met me through the window, which comforted me. I was awake. I was safe.