[GGG2020] When Dreams Become Reality

[Mystic Wanderer]

Sandy's terrified scream echoed through the painted sky-blue hallway leading to her mother's master bedroom on the opposite end. Ann, Sandy's mother, was startled awake and jumped from her bed. She quickly ran to see what was wrong with her youngest daughter.
   Sandy was the youngest of the children at six years old. She had one older sister who was 13, and one older brother who would be leaving for college in the fall. Both were at a friend's house this night. Sandy, being so much younger, didn't have anyone she felt she could talk to in her household about the strange dreams she'd been having for the past several weeks, so she kept them to herself and pretended everything was fine. But, in reality, Sandy was nowhere near being fine.
   Ann burst through the door with a force only a mother protecting her child could muster. "What's wrong? Are you having another bad dream?" Ann asked as she wrapped Sandy in her comforting arms.
   "Yes," Sandy whimpered. "It's out there, the monster. It's trying to get in and kill me." This was the first time Sandy had told her mother what her dreams were about. 
   "Now, now; it's only a dream. There are no monsters. Lie back down and get your sleep. Tomorrow is Saturday. You have your friends coming over for your pool party. You need to be rested so you won't be sleepy," Ann replied. Sandy snuggled back under the warm, soft covers and pulled them up to her chin. She felt the covers somehow offered her protection from what she felt lurked outside her window. She watched as her mother left the room, feeling so alone and scared. She didn't understand the dreams. Why was she having this dream so often, and why did it seem so real? Sandy pondered the questions in her mind as she drifted off to sleep.

   Sunlight peaked over the mountain and rays of brilliant golden light made its way through Sandy's bedroom window. She opened her eyes, yawned and stretched, thankful that the bad dream had not returned.

   "Sandy! Breakfast is ready. Time to get up," Ann hollered from the kitchen. Sandy rose from her bed and looked out her window. She thought she saw strange footprints, but couldn't make out what kind they were. Was it human, or was it animal? She would try to remember to look closer when she went out for her pool party. After a hearty breakfast, Sandy mentioned the footprints to her mother. Ann looked at her without emotion and told her to stop allowing her imagination to run away. Sandy lowered her head and went to her room to get ready to greet her friends.

   "This is a great party," Melissa said, Sandy's best friend.
   "Thanks," Sandy replied. "Hey, come over here to my room and look at the footprints on the ground. What do you think made them?"
   "I don't know; probably a monster," Melissa answered jokingly. Then she noticed Sandy's face turning white. "I was just kidding. There's no such thing as monsters; my mommy told me so."

   "They're really big, whatever made them," Sandy said. "Okay, well, let's get back to the pool before my mother misses me."
   The party ended after several hours. Sandy waved bye to her friends as they pulled out from her driveway. She was worn out so she went to her room for a nap before dinner. Then... the dream returned.

   "Sandy, dinner is ready; wake up," Ann called from the kitchen. She waited and waited, but Sandy never answered. As Ann opened Sandy's door, she noticed Sandy wasn't in her bed and her window was up. As she stepped closer, she noticed two long muddy paw prints reaching all the way from the top of the window, smeared all the way to the bottom. Whatever had done this was extremely tall. "Oh my lord! Sandy! Sandy!" Ann screamed from the window.
No answer. 

   Ann called the police, barely able to speak. Upon their arrival, they wrote a report, examined the footprints, and took a sample from the muddy smears on the window. "Honestly, ma'am, I have no idea what could have done that, but we'll be doing everything in our power to get your daughter back," said the deputy. Ann thanked them and showed them to the door.

   That night Ann fell asleep from exhaustion. She was later awakened by a noise unlike anything she'd ever heard. It was coming from her window.
Scratching - screeching.
Ann crept from her bed to look out. The only thing she saw were two red glowing eyes staring back at her.

Before Ann could even let out a scream, the monster broke through the window and grabbed her, pulling her out with it's long, muscular arm.

  

   When Ann's other children returned home the next day, they found an empty house with smeared blood stains on the bedroom floor leading to the window in both Ann's and Sandy's bedroom. After calling the police, they were informed of the incident from the previous night. That's all they knew.

   No one ever found Ann or Sandy, but to this day, people in that area tell wild tales of finding strange gigantic footprints under their window, children are still having nightmares, and parents are still telling them it was only a bad dream.