Erin was so tired. She hadn’t slept for days, and she wasn’t going to sleep ever again if she could help it. “One more coffee should get me till morning,” she pushed. Her eyes were bloodshot. Her thoughts verged on the brink of insanity, but still, she couldn’t let herself go to sleep. While it is humanly impossible for someone to go without sleep indefinitely, she was determined to beat a world record. The nightmares were far more haunting than the misery of not sleeping, so she grabbed her cup of coffee to conquer one more night and took another sip of the sweet caramel coffee within her hands. There was no other option. She tried everything to rid herself of the harrowing nightmares. As she watched the movie Twilight for the fifth night in a row, the heaviness of her eyelids felt like bricks. “No!” she slapped herself, “stay awake. You can do this.” Deep down she knew her efforts would fail her eventually, but she had to keep trying. Her body ached with exhaustion; her stomach felt nauseated. She knew, however, that sleep would be worse. Erin loved horror movies, but even the most gruesome movies were nothing compared to what she experienced in her nightmares. She felt an eerie darkness sweep over her when she found herself thrusted into another dark alley, or another abandoned house, or worse, back in the past. She avoided facing her past at all costs, even driving herself crazy. She could never face it again, especially not in her dreams where she would be left vulnerable and weak again. No, this was the only option despite the toll it took on her body and mind. It was getting harder and harder to keep her eyes open. The coffee wasn’t helping anymore, and it was adding to the unease of her stomach. Being unable to stand it any longer, she let her eyes close. Almost immediately, she was face to face with her demons. It was her house when she was a teenager, it was the same bedroom where her nightmares had been a reality. She heard the yelling, the accusations, and threats. With her hands cupped over her ears, and her attempt to get as small as she could, she tried to shield herself from the words. It was the same words over and over. “You are a liar,” or “nobody is going to save you.” She started humming to herself to drown out the noise. “This will end,” she said to herself, “I will wake up.” She was desperate to believe that, but not convincing herself fast enough. Suddenly she heard her bedroom door slam against the wall, and it was silent. She dared to uncover her eyes, and a woman dressed in a beautiful white dress was standing in the doorway.

“That’s enough!” she yelled, “You have tormented Erin for too long.”  Her “demons” froze and were speechless. The beautiful woman walked over to Erin extending her hands to her. “This dream is now in your hands, sweetie,” she said kindly, “you have the power to change it.” Erin’s heart began to slow down, she relaxed her body. Her demons were frozen like ice. They didn’t move or speak, they were statues. Erin grabbed the woman’s hand and pulled herself up. The woman grabbed the walking stick Erin found in the woods when her family was camping and handed it to Erin. “Take control over this dream,” she said, handing her the stick. Erin took hold of the stick cautiously, but suddenly she felt a power swoop over her, she faced her demons, and with all the anger she had in her body she could muster, she took control.

 “You are the liar!” Taking the stick, she shattered the statues and watched as they crumbled to pieces. Erin was out of breath.

 “They will never hurt you again,” the woman placed her hand on her shoulders. Erin smiled for the first time in her life. The woman started to fade away like a ghost.

 “Wait!” Erin reached out her hand and just then opened her eyes.

Erin was at peace. She knew the power she had in the middle of her nightmares. Oh, her nightmares tried to show their ugly presence in her sleep occasionally, but they would never again terrify her. She knew now what to do. She could finally sleep in peace.