Nightmare | Stories
I Lived Almost 10 Years of My Childhood in Nightmares
I used to sit idle for hours at night just to avoid having those night terrors
We all have some amazing childhood memories that we love to often think about and share with others. Of course, I do have many good memories I’ll cherish forever. But I also have some really worst ones as nightmares (not the real ones but some bad dreams) that I do not even want to imagine.
The stories we experience in dreams are usually funny but awkward, and sometimes they can be a nightmare too. But to start living with those nightmares day after day becomes very disturbing.
I don’t remember exactly, but I guess I was just 6 or 7 years old when I first experienced these haunting dreams. After that, it became a routine for me. I could not do anything instead to live with those nightmares year after year.
What is a Nightmare?
A nightmare is a frightening dream with negative feelings that feels vivid & real and can be upsetting & bizarre. It leaves you unable to control the situation during sleep and awakes you from a deep sleep, setting your heart pounding from fear. They often occur during the REM “rapid eye movement” stage of sleep.
Nightmares can get triggered for a number of reasons —
- Stress
- Mental health
- Irregular sleep
- Trauma
- Medication
- Horror movies & Books
But I don’t get it — I didn’t have these problems back in those days. Frankly, I was only addicted to watching cartoons. I don’t know if it would have been enough of a reason. Yea!
Bad dreams or Nightmares can kill a person while in sleep by causing a heart attack — I’m glad I’m alive!
Okay! Now I’m gonna tell you guys the stories that may sound funny, but back then, they had often awakened me out of fear and sadness.
The Nightmare Stories
Yea! not just one, but there are two different stories that made me sleep like in a black hole and lost in time, and it was like these were in random order. You know, I had no idea in which situation I was about to be while I was sleeping.
A visit to my aunt’s house (Nightmare #one)
It happened like this — My mom took my younger brother and me to her sister’s house for a random visit. My aunt lives on the 3rd floor of a multistorey building.
As soon as we reached, we were restless and wanted to play some games, so we went to the balcony, and the moment I closed the door, it auto-locked.
That’s okay! “Mom will come and open it,” said my inner voice.
I could see my mom and aunt from the window. They were chatting and laughing (my aunt often cracks humorous jokes). I knocked on the window to call her out, but it didn’t work. We started shouting, but no one could hear us.
Now, there was another door behind us we wanted to check if it could help us go back to mom. It was an emergency exit door that goes straight down outside. As we both took a step forward, I noticed on my left was a broken staircase (scary enough not to use it) and on my right was a rough slope (my brother was not ready to use it either).
We were literally stuck there, and before I could realize my brother’s condition, he fainted and slipped down that slope, and I had to go after him.
What happened next was so scary that it rattled me to awake from the dream with fear & anxiety. When I woke up, I was in dreadful condition. I was sweating from every pore, my heart was in pain, and I cried a lot.
Don’t you dare touch my brother (Nightmare #two)
So, this happened in my own house and in front of family members.
As usual, my brother and I were at my dad’s office, it’s on the ground floor of our building. We both were playing some sort of game, I presume. My dad and my uncle were in a conversation with some other people.
All of a sudden, a man entered the office. He was looking terrible (no less than a satan). We both were so scared to see him that my brother started crying.
He then came towards us and held my brother’s hand, and said, “let’s go, I’m here to take you with me.”
I was frightened. I asked my dad to stop him and don’t let him take my brother, but my dad didn’t even notice me, and neither did anyone else there. They all avoided me as if they couldn’t see me there.
The man in front of everyone dragged my brother outside the office while my brother was crying out loud, but he took him away, and I kept on screaming and begging him, don’t do this.
It was so disturbing for me to watch him go, and I couldn’t do anything.
“Childhood should be carefree, playing in the sun, not living a nightmare in the darkness of the soul.” — Dave Pelzer
How Did I Heal Myself?
I actually didn’t do anything about it.
I’ve experienced these upsetting dreams for years. There was a time when I was so scared of it that I didn’t want to even go to sleep. I was sick & tired of being in those disturbing situations every night. I have tried not to sleep. I used to indulge myself in various things at night just to avoid getting sleepy.
I know these stories may sound rubbish. They actually do for a 20-something-year-old me now. I often think about the dreams and laugh at myself like seriously, “what stupid dreams they actually were!” but the truth is words cannot express my fear and those negative feelings I used to get as a 7-year-old.
When I turned 15, I stopped having those dreams on my own (by the grace of God). And fortunately, I didn’t have to experience those dreams again.
I never want to look back at those days, but I wanted to share these stories with you all. Have you ever seen these kinds of dreams? What are your childhood memories?
I would like to hear your stories as well!
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