This is a work of fiction. The events and characters described herein are imaginary and are
not intended to refer to specific places or living persons. Any resemblance to any person or
persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All Rights Reserved
The right of Eduard Joseph to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him under the South African Copyright Act of 1978 (as amended).
1.
Patti was in the kitchen making herself a cup of chamomile tea. She had trouble sleeping ever since she saw a man in the street who looked like her ex-husband. For a moment she wished it was Mitch. He decided that being the father of a six year old boy was more than he could handle at his age. They were both only twenty years old when she fell pregnant. They were obviously young and careless back then, and the little boy was the product of their recklessness – not that she ever regretted having him.
Her boy’s name was Richard and he was a precious gift from God. He was the only thing she’d ever done right in her life – the only thing she was proud of.
She was not the only one whom had trouble sleeping the last couple of weeks. Richard recently started having night terrors. He would wake up screaming in the middle of the night drenched in sweat; it would take her hours to finally get him back to sleep. Every child was afraid of the dark at his age, but Richard was downright terrified of the dark. She had to leave the light on until he fell asleep. She’d eventually go back and turn off the light. If he knew he was asleep in the dark he’d wake up screaming and then the routine of rocking him to sleep would begin all over.
Her job was just as stressful. She had a boss from hell; he would find any excuse to yell at her. If the copier was broken, it was Patti’s fault. If his meeting was cancelled, it was Patti’s fault. The fact of the matter was he simply didn’t like women and wanted her to quit. He couldn’t simply fire her because of his discrimination, as it would be illegal. So he made her life a living hell each day, hoping that someday she would finally crack and leave.
The stress at work and the sleepless nights with Richard had taken its toll on her. She was barely twenty seven years old and she felt like she was middle aged. It was on nights like this one that she cursed her husband for walking out on her. She had spent two hours trying to get Richard to sleep, and she had to be at work in less than five hours. She was exhausted and desperately needed a good night’s sleep.
She stirred in the milk and stared down at the little whirlpool the teaspoon created as she stirred the tea. She took a sip to ensure it was not too weak and then walked down the hallway towards Richard’s room.
The walls of his room were covered in posters of WWE wrestlers; his favourite was John Cena, which was evident from the large poster over his bed. It was an apt position for the poster; almost as if his favourite wrestler was watching over him as he slept. Richard had bunk beds and would sleep in the top bunk one week and the lower the next; something she never quite understood. This week he slept in the lower bunk. She got him the bunk beds in hopes that he would make friends that would sleep over, but Richard was a loner.
Looking at Richard asleep in his bed, he seemed so peaceful to Patti. One would never believe the night terrors he suffered from. She usually left the bathroom light on as it was just across the hall from his room and the light would supply not too much light to his room to wake him.
She pulled his door until it was open just a crack, which allowed a beam of light to shine onto his headboard.
Patti returned to the kitchen and drank her tea. She paged through the newspaper. It was filled with horrible news; floods, wars, missing people, murders and rapes were the main stories in the paper. She folded the paper away and drank her tea in silence. The world was too violent for her.
This was no world to raise a child in. No wonder the world was messed up. Children grow up with violence around them; it’s all they know, so it’s what they will get into eventually. It was a never-ending cycle.
She lingered in the kitchen for a moment longer while she drank the last of her tea and then went to her bedroom. She’d try and get some shut eye before she had to return to work. It wasn’t as much an office as it was hell with fluorescent lighting. She hated every minute she had to spend there, but she did it for her boy. She wanted to give him the best life she could possibly give him – even if it meant working herself to the bone for Satan himself.
2
Richard was fast asleep in his bed until the covers on the top bunk shifted and the beds screeched. His eyes jerked open. He turned over onto his back and stared up at the bottom of the top bunk. The bed springs squealed as something on the top bunk shifted again. Richard pulled the covers up to his chin. His eyes were wide with fear. His mother told him that his terrors weren’t real. All he had to do was ignore them and they will go away. Richard rolled onto his side and tried to ignore the creaking sound above him. Something shifted in the top bunk again. Richard covered his ears with his hands. Ignore it and it will go away. Count to ten and it will go away.
One…
The bed creaked again.
Two…
Richard looked up at the top bunk from behind the covers.
Three…
The covers hid most of his face and could perhaps protect him from whatever was on the top bunk.
Four…
He could now hear something breathing.
Five…
The breathing meant he wasn’t alone in the bedroom. There was something in the dark with him.
Six…
Keep counting and ignore it. It will go away when you get to ten…
Seven…
The top bunk shifted again and then a foot dangled down the side of the top bunk. Upon seeing the shadowy foot, Richard sat upright and screamed at the top of his lungs. A moment later Patti rushed into the room and switched on the light.
“I’m here!” Patti yelled as she rushed to his side.
Patti sat down on the edge of the bed and embraced Richard. He was trembling. She held on tightly to him and rocked back and forth.
“It was just a dream.” Patti hushed him, “It’s not real. They can’t hurt you.”
Richard stared up from his mother’s embrace at the top bunk. There was nothing dangling over the edge now. Whatever it was, it disappeared when the light came on.
Patti sat rocking him for another ten minutes before he calmed down again. She lay him down again.
“I’ll be just next door.” Patti said, “I’ll leave the light on if you want.”
Richard nodded, though he was still shaken up from the ordeal. She stared down at her innocent boy – his curly blond hair and his intense blue eyes. His eyes were very peculiar. There was a black semi-circle that bordered his blue irises – something you didn’t see every day.
She kissed him on the forehead and got up.
“Try to get some sleep.” Patti said, “It’s just a dream. They can’t hurt you.”
Richard nodded and pulled the covers up against his nose. Patti smiled at him and felt so sorry to see him suffer from his night terrors.
“Mom…” He whispered from behind the covers, “Please don’t turn off the light.”
She stood in the doorway and stared at him. She gave him a nod and pulled the door halfway closed. The floorboards creaked beneath her feet as she made her way to her bedroom. The effects of
the chamomile tea were kicking in as she was starting to feel drowsy. She collapsed onto her bed and let out a sigh of relief. It took her eyes only a few minutes to grow heavy and before she knew it she slowly drifted away into dream world.