Hypnerotomachia (noun): the struggle for love in a dream

Dreams are known as the projections of the subconscious mind; the invisible thoughts that would normally never cross a conscious, logical mind. That’s why all of these hidden desires rage forward as soon as a person’s eyelids close into sleep. Only in this senseless state, will their truest feelings be unleashed.

But what about an insomniac?

Their friends and family could dream of eloping with their forbidden love, of being stark naked in front of their classmates, of blue pancakes and flying giraffes. But for a soul cursed with awakeness, they wouldn’t even get a chance to rest their mind.

The girl sat, fidgeting on her bed. In her arms was an avocado plushie from her best friend, but there was no comfort from it as she stared at the wall ahead with her black-circled eyes.

What did she need to do to even get a wink of sleep? Just five minutes would be plenty to catch her up with all the healthy sleepers. The ravenous desire for peace in a nap only haunted her head, keeping her brain churning and turning.

Wow. The pile of clothes on her desk chair seemed very much like a demon.

She groaned, the persistent restlessness tangling in her hair. That dark outline was a sign that she needed to do laundry; of course there was no bloodthirsty creature poised to attack her.

Her sleepless eyes flicked to the closet, where she spotted what seemed to be an unsettlingly long strand of rope. Could it be a snake?

She then remembered the scarf she hung there earlier today.

On and on, the insomniac picked out the shadowed silhouettes around the room, carefully contemplating any supernatural possibilities of it being a monster, then refuting herself with a jab to stop thinking.

She might’ve dozed off at 4:37 AM.

Dream? Oh yes, every horror she’d imagined in her room came to life in her dream. An actual flesh-eating demon, a horrifyingly huge snake, a split face of a crying and laughing ghost-

As if frozen water was splashed on her face, the insomniac shot up, again wide awake and trembling with fear.