Demons and Nightmares

A voice cried out in the still, dead air, “Why, why…?” A girl lay shattered on the ground fighting the horrors that threatened to consume her being. The evening sun beat down on her broken form. She knew that it was wrong. She knew she shouldn’t have done it, but she had seen no other way out. She hadn’t asked for this. She hadn’t wanted this. It hadn’t been her fault.

“Why, why…? “ She continued to whimper pitifully.

Suddenly, little hands touched her gently. She turned her head to the side. Babies were smiling up at her, laughing happily. She winced in pain at the sight of them. What had she done? She kept telling herself that she did what was right. Any girl would have done what she had chosen to do if it had been them. The smiling faces and happy eyes of the children began to turn into frowns. Tears began to well up in their eyes.

A red hue fell over them, shading their skin a sickly orange. The sun flung its crimson into the sky, painting it forever red. The clouds soaked it up, staining themselves with a color that would never come out. Even the moon, as it rose, caught the dark sickness. The planet trembled in pain. It shook, shuddered, and then wept. The ground opened up and started to spill out its hidden secret; a graveyard, running red with blood and shattered innocence.

The babies burst into tears, and their skin began to peel off, leaving blood to race down their muscles and tendons, until only their bones were left; stained and distorted. They screamed in pain, holding onto her dress. More baby skeletons appeared, pulling themselves out of the ground, out of jars, out of the rubbish that had been thrown out that day. They grabbed the hem of her dull pink dress, crying like newborn infants. Struggling away, the woman slipped in the blood that was slowly seeping out of the dark wet soil. She fell, and the wrangled mutated bodies reached for her. They tried to climb her. She screamed in fear, and kicked them away, “Help me! Help me!” She cried. She broke into a run, terrified.

“Why? Why is this happening to me?! What did I do to deserve this?!”

Closing her eyes she fell again. Her dress was now the same color as the sky. Freezing, she waited for the hands to grab her. Slowly, her eyes flickered open at the sound of splashing water.

“It burns, it burns….”

A little girl was standing in a creek flinging water over her body. The blue water ran down her lily white skin, “It burns, it burns, it burns…” tears trailed down her face like twin rivers, “Make it stop, please, please…” Soft brown hair turned a deep black as the water soaked it. “Mommy make it stop, make it stop, it burns, it burns….” Her slow, methodic sloshing in the water started to become frantic, as she tried to stop the 'burning' in her body. Looking up at the sky the woman noticed it fading quickly to a dark red. Screaming children broke the piercing silence. The pained crying filled the air. The woman leapt to her feet and ran towards the child, “No, stop!”

She's was too late. The red consumed the child, melting her skin off. Slowly, the child turned to face her, “Why didn’t you save me? I thought you loved me?” More deformed, distorted, mutilated babies solidified around her asking the same question.

“Welcome to our playground.” The little girl tells her, vanishing in a huff of dust. The others disintegrate as well. Putting her hands to her head, the woman closes her eyes. This wasn’t real! She didn’t cause this! She pulls on her hair angrily and in fear.

When her eyes open the little girl is again in the river, splashing water frantically over herself, “It burns, it burns….”

The woman rushed forward as the red hue appeared in the distance again.

“Please don’t! Not again, God please not again! Help her God please!”

As soon as the plea left her lips, a bright light tore through the blackness. A stag appeared in the river, and walked gracefully, on the water, towards the little girl. It stopped in front of her, “Love, it’s time to go.”

“But it burns, it burns…”

“I know Beloved.” With that, the stag leaned down and touched the little girl with its fuzzy, milky white muzzle. The girl ceased her splashing and looked up at the animal.

“It doesn’t burn anymore. I don’t hurt, except here.” She pointed to her chest. The stag lowered its head and nuzzled her, glowing a gentle blue.

“I know Little One, I know.”

“Why does it hurt so?” she asked hugging its great head.

“It hurts because you have loved someone.”

“My mommy? It hurts because I loved her?”

“Yes, because you loved her and she didn’t in return.”

“Why didn’t she?”

“She wasn’t ready for you just yet.”

The girl hung onto the stag as if the animal would leave her too, “You won’t leave me will you?”

“No, Beloved. I will never leave you. I never have. Would you like to return home now?”

The little brown-headed girl nodded her head. The stag touched her again, but this time he glowed a bright blue along with the girl. The girl then vanished and the stag remained. It stared towards the woman.

“Love, your child is safe with me now.”

“What have I done?” she fell to her knees. “That was my child…”

“Yes, and you forsook her.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t know…forgive me, forgive me…”

The stag was suddenly in front of her. It leaned down and rested its muzzle on her head, “Beloved, I know this as well. You are forgiven.”

“But my child…she…”

“Has forgiven you too, and she will always love you, as will I.”

“Who are you?”

“You have not guessed yet My Child? I Am.”

“You’re, you’re…God.”

The stag lifted His head, “Love, return now, it’s time for you to wake up.”

“But what about…”

“I will send you a gift again, if you are willing. Love her like you did not this one.”

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The woman awoke with a start, sitting up in her bed, knocking her head against the IV rack.

“The procedure went smoothly. You’ll be fine in a few hours.” A doctor told her, “How do you feel?”

The woman didn’t say a word. Instead, she buried her face in her white pillow and wept for the child that she would never know.

By Sarah Wenetschlaeger