Page 24 of Precipitous Nightmare's Valentine Dream

Precipitous stepped into the mortal woman’s night musings and tore them to pieces.

Idyllic images of domestic bliss, white picket fences, and babies crawling across a carpeted suburban floor tumbled into a mind-numbing existence of endless chores and helpless boredom. In the strange world of dreams, Melanie found herself stuck in a loveless marriage as she pined for the one person who’d ever truly made her heart sing.

“What are you searching for, Melanie Cross?” whispered the Night Terror whose tangled threads dipped into her mind. He had no patience for indecision now. No sympathy for those who still had love within their grasp and turned their back upon it. “What have you given away?”

Her dream-husband sat at the table across from her, immersed in his own thoughts and ignoring her completely. Only the tick of an invisible clock broke the silence as Melanie tried to engage him in conversation only to have her words snatched away by the chill wind that swept through their dining room. The food in front of her tasted stale and bland, and her life seemed entirely without flavor. Her soul was starving, and there was nothing at this table to feed it properly.

Retreating to their shared bedroom, Melanie gazed at the indents in the pillows where they’d lain, at the dust that had settled over the entire bed. She lay down atop the covers, and the mattress sagged like quicksand, pulling her into its cold, empty embrace. She didn’t even struggle as the cloudy cotton fill spilled out and covered her mouth and nose, drowning her in sadness and loss.

In the real world, Melanie whimpered in her sleep, restlessly fighting the sweaty sheets that seemed to smother her. Precipitous swiped a hand across her brow and whispered in a dangerous, melancholy voice. “See the future you’ve both wrought, mortal. See what life without love will bring you.”

Dream-Melanie sat in an empty living room, the pristine, unused furniture around her standing like monuments to a life without joy. In one hand, she held divorce papers, served to her by a man she’d never truly loved and who had clearly never cared for her at all. In her other hand, she held a newspaper clipping of a car accident, the only news she had of Gary’s demise. He’d been driving alone late at night, traversing the interstate between his city and hers. She wondered if he’d been coming to save her. She wondered why she’d spent so long refusing to save herself.

In Melanie’s dream, she screamed out her frustration at the unfairness of it all. The sound merely echoed back against the bare walls of the empty rooms and hallways where her future dream-self lived alone.

Melanie woke, heart racing, as Precipitous watched from the shadows. She paced the room in her pajamas, glancing over at her phone on the dresser every few minutes. Stepping toward it again and again only to retreat, biting her nails in indecision.

“Call him,” Precipitous silently mouthed in the dark. “Tell him of your dreams. Tell him of your nightmares. Tell him of your love, before it is too late.”

In truth, he need not have bothered.

The phone lit up in the dark.

Melanie answered.

Precipitous fell into the Shadow Paths, into the lines between dreams and reality, into his own eternal nightmare.

He no longer wished to be real. He no longer wished to be anything.

Chapter 20

Oh You Foolish Night Terror, What Have You Done?

Luminous Dream

Dawn broke on Valentine’s Day and an extremely surprised, extremely tiny Luminous Dream watched Melanie Cross from a high shelf in the mortal woman’s bedroom. She’d settled herself there, behind a statue of frolicking fairies, a few hours before dawn after wandering the nighttime streets for hours immersing herself in other mortals’ dreams of heartbreak.

She’d almost not come at all, but the pull to visit Melanie one more time before being locked into the Dream realm forever turned out to be stronger than her own desire to avoid reminders of her loss. Now, though, Luminous had no idea what might be happening.

Melanie whistled to herself as she checked her reflection in her makeup table mirror. The woman’s smile held a secret joy Luminous didn’t quite understand. Confused, the tiny DayDream leaned forward and peeked into the woman’s head.What she saw almost made her tumble off the shelf.

Melanie was recalling a late-night meeting with Gary mere hours before.

He’d come to her, proclaiming eternal love and groveling — actual on-the-knees please-take-me-back groveling.

“I dreamed I lost you,” he’d said, tears streaming down his face. “It was the most terrifying nightmare I’ve ever had. No job — no stupid career move — is worth losing you.”

She’d fallen to her own knees in response, meeting him there in the cool, damp grass outside her front door.It was ridiculous, how the two of them acted. Should have been a movie. Should have been a song.

“I dreamed about you, too,” Melanie had admitted as she took his hands in hers. “I should have told you I loved you long ago. Should have figured out a way to work with you so we can both achieve our dreams. Together.”

Luminous watched the mental replay, flabbergasted, as Gary pulled a ring box from his pocket and opened it to reveal a shimmering diamond on a slim gold band.

“I want to spend this Valentine’s Day and every day from this moment forward with you,”

“I never want that nightmare to be real. It was so frightening, Gary.”

And then they’d kissed and gone inside and… woah, yeah, she didn’t need to watch that part.

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