Opening my eyes, I see vast plains of grass and flowers. Hills of green are as far as my eyes can see. The radiating sun beaming down on the mortal world below. The rays of sunlight do not reach me, however. This is because I am shielded in the shadow of a titanic tree. Turing my heading to face my protector, I see that its bark is grey and rough. Its many leaves that are attached to its branches are azure in color.

I find it odd. Is it normal for trees to have azure leaves? I have not seen many trees in my life, so I cannot deny the possibility.

The air within this plain is heavy. Moving my body is also a difficult task. Personally, I am fine with this. The view is beautiful and leaning against this strange tree is relaxing. It’s a wonderful experience.

It’s so peaceful. I wish life could always be like this.

“…”

A whisper penetrates the peaceful atmosphere. I can’t make out the words, but I have no doubt that I did hear something.

“W..or…”

It’s a voice. More like a distant echo. I still can’t make out what it is trying to say. It’s annoying, I wish it would stop.

“W..or..th.”

It’s getting louder. The voice is actually sounding more familiar with time.

“Worthless.”

Worthless. A word I have heard quiet often. Hearing it again from the voice of the person I most hate is not surprising. I no longer care what the voice has to say about me. I know it is true. I can accept that. What I cannot accept is the destruction of my peace. The second I understood the word this voice was trying to tell me; the plains of green began to turn brown. The grass is dying, and the lovely flowers are wilting. The sky itself has become clouded and grey.

The tree, that was to be my personal shelter, is no longer littered with the strange azure leaves as it did before.

“Pathetic”

The voice from before has now found a companion to aid in insulting me. It is also a voice of a person I know. I know this voice all too well. There are not only two voices speaking to me. There are many. Too many and they are all voices of people I know. I can make out a word here or there but it all just sounds like a cacophony of noise.

I ask them to stop but they only become louder. I want to cover my ears, but I can’t move my body. Honestly, thinking about it now I was a fool to think even for a second that I could have peace.

They continue.

Stupid.Dork.Deadhead.Dipstick.Dunce.Idiot.Dipshit.Retard.Deadeyes.Waste of space.Freak.

They repeat themselves over and over. These words make me feel nothing. I’m used to it. It’s just an annoyance at this point. So just stop! Your words mean nothing to me!

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“My puppet”

The world around me freezes. My heart rate begins to rise. A single phrase cuts through all the useless noise and shakes my soul more than any insult hurled at me. For the first time since awakening within this space, I lift my head to find the source of this phrase. It was a girl’s voice. I know it was. It had to be. It had to be her. Something deep within me is urging me to search for the source of that voice. To search for her.

But no matter where I looked, I found nothing. Nothing but a destroyed world filled with long forgotten beauty and death.

“Is something wrong my puppet.”

Yes. I never wanted to hear your voice ever again.

“Heheh. Such harsh words, but I know you really don’t mean that. Do you?”

…I don’t know.

“Of course, you don’t. That’s why you are a perfect puppet. You think what I want you to think. You do what I want you to do.”

You mean like a slave.

“A slave, a puppet, a dog. They are just words, but to me they represent you perfectly. So truthfully it does not matter what you call it.”

Shut up.

“What’s wrong? Did I hurt the puppets nonexistent feelings?”

Shut up!

“Pretending to be mad will not make me disappear. You forget I hold the leash. I control you. Therefore, I will always remain.”

I am not your slave anymore! Leave!

“That’s where you are wrong. You will always be my precious puppet. Because without me you are nothing.”

SHUT UP!

I awaken sitting up from my bed. My face is drenched in sweat as well as my back. It feels gross and I want to take a shower immediately. I scan the room to find that I am no longer with that godforsaken field. It must have been a dream. A dream that turned into a nightmare. I thought moving to a new location would make them appear less often, but I guess I was naïve.

I roll out of bed and walk towards the window looking out into the forest below. The moon is nowhere to be seen and light is engulfing the trees in the east. It’s dawn. Though the exact time I have no clue.

“BZZZT.BZZZZT.”

On the unicorn nightstand next to my bed, the alarm I set on my phone goes off. I hate waking up before my alarm. It makes me feel like there was no point to setting it. I pick up the useless piece of modern age technology and see that it’s five in the morning. Great, Wolfden has turned my smartphone device into overly expensive watch.

Because of the nightmare, I am wide awake. Still, that doesn’t mean I want to get ready to face the day yet. I have two choices. Go back to sleep and possibly experience the same nightmares or prepare for the eight miles to go to school. I sigh escapes from within me. Life can be such a pain sometimes.

I’m already out of bed, so let’s try the latter. I walk out of my bedroom and into the hallway. Grandma’s room is right across from my own. From the sound of a dying banshee coming from behind her door, I guess she is still sleeping.

What, no breakfast? I quickly dismiss the thought. I should still be grateful she cooked me dinner.

A little way down the hallway is the bathroom. When I enter the room, my hand instinctively flips the light switch to illuminate the features held within. It’s a normal bathroom. Well normal if I don’t count the dreamcatchers hanging in the shower, the tribal mask toilet seat, and the wooden carving of animals next to the sink. Yeah, it’s completely normal. I haven’t even begun my hike towards town, but I already feel exhausted.

I need to wash my face. I turn on the faucet in the sink to release the water. When my hands reach for the water, they sting for some reason. Something strange is happening. Why is the water turning red?

When I inspect my hands, they are bleeding from my palms. What the hell? When did this happen?

The more I think about it, the more it doesn’t make sense. I didn’t do anything after eating dinner last night. I remember saying goodnight to grandma and then passing out.

Then it hit me. It was the nightmare. Normally I forget them within seconds of waking up in the morning. Not this time. I don’t remember all of it, but I remember the rage. It was overwhelming and it must have caused my hands to clench. Having my nails dig so deep into my palms that they began to bleed.

I once read that the horrors found in nightmares are things not to be feared. This is because no matter how scary they may seem; they could never harm you in reality.

I know now not to trust everything you read.