Erin’s eyes were like weights upon her delicate eyelids like an ant being smothered by a leaf, barely able to breathe. They were bloodshot and burning like a burner on the stove, glowing a bright red. It was a feeling she knew well from many sleepless nights. No amount of coffee was relieving the ache in her eyes. Still, her caffeinated body trembled from inside and out. “I need more coffee.” Erin’s conscience warned her that the trembling would only grow with one more cup, but the pillows that begged her to lay down threatened the nightmares she was bound to have if she let go and allowed herself the much-needed sleep. She was unable to stop the racing thoughts that consumed her mind like heavy rain hitting her windows, creating chaos she could not escape. Flashes of the images she knew would haunt her dreams; she shook her head as if wanting the pictures in her mind to disappear. She turned on the TV, scanning shows for a distraction. In the past, when sleep came, she was imprisoned in her nightmare like a criminal with a life sentence. It was always the same one, like a rerun show that never ended. Though one can’t go without sleep indefinitely, she lied to herself, forcing herself to stay awake for the eighth night. Insanity threatened her to the core, so she put another pod in the coffee maker, smelling its sweet caramel scent while it poured like a facet into her cup. “Mm…” she smelled the lovely aroma. Returning to her room, she avoided her dreaded bed of nightmares and sat on her soft brown recliner that felt like a giant pillow. On Netflix, she stumbled across a show she had binged on hundreds of times, but it was one of her favorites, Stranger Things. She had already watched the show to the fourth season, anxiously awaiting the fifth and final season, due to be released this year. In the meantime, she started over from the first episodes many times. This time was another one that Erin began to go over from the first season, the first episode titled “Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers.” Taking another sip of coffee, she placed her cup on the sleek, modern table with a smooth surface, slim legs, and a compact design fitting perfectly next to the recliner. As soon as Will approaches his house on his bike after a game of Dungeons and Dragons with his friends, strange noises and senses tell him that something is off. Before he explores the house and tries to phone for help with a screeching sound on the other end, Erin loses all her strength to stay awake any longer. She frantically forces her eyes to keep open several times but ultimately gives in. She never sees when Will Byers disappears because she has been swept into sleep like a strong tornado sweeps a house in an instant. In what feels like a second, she is sucked into a nightmarish moment in her past. She was back in her old bedroom on the second floor, clutching her pillow in her lap, her hands moving to cover her ears from the verbal attacks of her dad.

 “You will burn in hell!” was one of the threats her dad made, “God hates gays, and they are perverted; do you realize the perverted life you are living?” Her dad awaits an answer, rushing over to Erin to grab her hands off her ears. “Are you listening to me? I will not have my daughter be a pervert!” Erin’s body is restless, and her head moves in distress back and forth as this nightmare unfolds once again. Suddenly, she and her dad are startled by the bedroom door being thrown into the wall by someone in human form glowing in white like an angel. Erin blinks hard to make sure she sees what she sees. Her dad is paralyzed in fear.

“That’s enough! You have tormented your daughter long enough!” The woman in white waves her hands like waving a wand, and her dad becomes a pillar of ice. Erin runs to the corner of the room and curls up, making herself as small as humanly possible. The woman in white softly approaches Erin, extending her hand. “Don’t be afraid! You can end these horrific nightmares.” Erin grabs her hand, pulling herself up off the floor.

“How?” Erin’s mind spun into confusion.

“Grab your bat!” she pointed to the baseball bat she used to play ball with the kids in the neighborhood. Erin cautiously walked over and picked up her bat. “Take your power back, ” the woman spoke gently and reassuringly. Destroy these verbal attacks once and for all.” The woman looks at the pillar of ice that Erin’s dad was frozen in. “Go on…take back your life!” Erin stood paralyzed for a moment, and then a rush of strength covered her like the armor of a warrior in a battle. She yelled loudly.

“I am not a pervert! I am not going to hell!” She held her bat like she was waiting to hit the ball the pitcher threw and broke the pillar of ice, shattering it to pieces. Erin felt a wave of fresh air and the peace of a dove. For the first time, she smiled.

“Your nightmares are over. You have taken back your life. Be proud of yourself and who you are. God does not hate you.” Erin smiled once again and felt like sprouting leaves becoming a flower. She felt the warmth of the sun shining through her window. She opened her window a smelled the sweet aroma of fresh air, but when she turned back around, the woman was gone. Erin opened her eyes, turned off the TV, and crawled into the bed she feared with a newfound peace, and fell fast asleep once again. This time, knowing that her nightmare was over.