She was scared to sleep.
Closing the eyes seemed an ominous task.
Daunting and lately, repelling.
Dreadful even.
Even though, she was exhausted and drained, yet she would not succumb to slumbers. She could not.
For night after night, she dreamt.
Not the happy, joyous dreams.
Not even sober, ordinary dreams.
Her dream jolted her.
In the middle of night.
Engulfed in mist.
In a seemingly vast endless expanse.
Infinite. Sempiternal.
There seemed no start to it.
There appeared no end.
And she was falling.
A free forceful fall.
Across the foggy sheets.
Her hands and legs flailing, struggling, striving.
Suffocating, panting, gasping for breath.
Desperate. Praying.
To be caught.
To be made safe.
To be tucked in.
Unhurt. Unscathed.
But that never happened.
Theoretically, in the reason of light, she knew there was a slight effort that distinguished fall from flight. She could float over the cottony blanket.
But in the shade of night, all reason left her.
Benumbed, she continued to fall.
In a bottomless inferno.
Descending but never settling.
Night after night.
And she would wake up.
Breathless. Sweating. Shaken.
Drained and jagged, she avoided sleep.
But the body betrayed. Only to be drenched with nightmare.
No.
Her tired spirit did not relish the taste of sleep.
Closing the eyes seemed an ominous task.
Daunting and lately, repelling.
Dreadful even.
Even though, she was exhausted and drained, yet she would not succumb to slumbers. She could not.
For night after night, she dreamt.
Not the happy, joyous dreams.
Not even sober, ordinary dreams.
Her dream jolted her.
In the middle of night.
Engulfed in mist.
In a seemingly vast endless expanse.
Infinite. Sempiternal.
There seemed no start to it.
There appeared no end.
And she was falling.
A free forceful fall.
Across the foggy sheets.
Her hands and legs flailing, struggling, striving.
Suffocating, panting, gasping for breath.
Desperate. Praying.
To be caught.
To be made safe.
To be tucked in.
Unhurt. Unscathed.
But that never happened.
Theoretically, in the reason of light, she knew there was a slight effort that distinguished fall from flight. She could float over the cottony blanket.
But in the shade of night, all reason left her.
Benumbed, she continued to fall.
In a bottomless inferno.
Descending but never settling.
Night after night.
And she would wake up.
Breathless. Sweating. Shaken.
Drained and jagged, she avoided sleep.
But the body betrayed. Only to be drenched with nightmare.
No.
Her tired spirit did not relish the taste of sleep.
A very well drawn poetic response to the prompt ~ Beautiful work Ruby ~ :)
ReplyDeleteThank you John. Your compliments mean a lot.
DeleteArgh. I can't imagine how horrible something like having constant nightmares must be or insomnia. I love sleep and I relish in it's calm. I liked how you saw a more sinister story in something so peaceful, Ruby!
ReplyDelete- Ermisenda
Thank you Ermisenda for visiting and leaving such kind words here.
DeleteThis was scary, suffocating and literate. I lov
ReplyDeleteThank you Lance. I am glad to hear from you. Doubly glad for "I lov" words :)
Delete