Night Mares and Dream Scapes

Anna has always loved having nightmares. Ever since she was a child and up until now, she has always found them to be comforting and albeit they scared her to tears at times, the knowledge of it being only a figment of her somewhat messed up imagination was and still is a great relief. Unlike the nightmares in the real world, she was able to leave the monsters behind the moment she wakes up from her deep but restless slumber. That was, up until one fateful day.

It all started on the eve of her seventeenth birthday. Her mom, older sister and she were on their way to pick up their dad from the airport and it was raining really heavily. She thought nothing of it because they’ve gone through it so many times before with worse conditions even, and managed to come out of it without a scratch.

For the next half an hour or so, they found themselves barely moved a few kilometers from their original spot in the horrific traffic jam. Who knew a traffic jam could be so bad? Since it was the weekend and they just had a holiday on Friday, most probably these people were on their way back to their homes from the brief escape from reality. Just like my dad. How was he anyway? Hopefully everything is okay and he’s safe and back on dry –well, technically- land.

Weirdly enough, as if her need to see her father was heard up above, a moment after, the traffic jam cleared bit by bit and soon they were driving as usual without being trapped in the mass of vehicles. Sensing that they were late and not wanting her husband to wait, Anna’s mom speeded up a little without breaking the speed limit rule. All of them didn’t mind it one bit because they were all anxious to greet their dad after being apart for nearly two weeks. They missed him dearly and their mom was no exception. Plus, with the fact that it was by then nearly two in the morning, they were also anxious to get back home and snuggle up under warm covers. Falling asleep in a car wasn’t exactly comfortable, mind you, and they were too sleepy to fully realize what was about to happen to them until it was too late.

The car suddenly swerved sharply to the left and nearly missed an oncoming car from the other side, causing them to drive off road and nearly hitting the tree in front of them. As the emergency break was pulled, all of them jerked forward in their seats from the sudden stop. Anna stole a quick glance at her mom and sister to see if they were alright. From the view through the backseat, she couldn’t really see them but she could see through their shoulders that they were breathing as heavily as did she. Anna then turned around in her seat and could see from the back window that the other car had also stopped, luckily without a scratch. She was so grateful that both parties weren’t hurt, only shocked. What had just happened though?

Just as she was about to ask her mom the very question, a great impact was felt throughout the car and in a matter of seconds, the car flipped numerously before settling down. Anna’s eyes were kept wide open in shock and fear and for a split second, she thought she saw a man standing near the car with his face in the shadows, only his body was lit with the moon’s light. Before she could even register what she just saw though, another flip of the car had caused her to bang her head on the window, instantly causing Anna to fall unconscious for the first time in her life.