A Nightmare

A  Nightmare

"Don't eat just before going to bed !" my mother used to tell me. "You might get a nightmare." How right she was. I never believed her until it happened to me. It was on a night when I felt hungry just as I was about to go to bed. So I made myself a peanut-butter sandwich and a large cold glass of milk. After consuming them I went to bed. Soon I drifted off into a troubled sleep. I dreamt that I was with a group of people looking for an old woman. I was not sure why we were looking for her but we all seemed afraid of her. Somehow we had to find her. So there I was, searching high and low for her in frightful places I had never been before. Sometimes I seemed to be flying while at other times I seemed unable to move. The whole atmosphere was one of fear, like a dreadful horror-movie in which I was a victim. After some searching I entered a darkened room and saw a figure sleeping on a bed. As I got nearer the figure suddenly threw away the blanket, got up and stared at me. It was an ugly old woman with shiny golden teeth. She raised her claw-like fingers and walked towards me. I wanted to run but was unable to. I tried to scream but found that I could not. In horror I struggled and struggled to get away from the frightful woman. The next moment I gave a muffled yell and found myself panting on my bed. My goodness, what a horrible nightmare it was! For a minute or so I lay on my bed not daring to close my eyes for fear of falling asleep again and continuing the nightmare. Then I sat up on my bed until the horrible feeling passed. From then on I never eat just before going to sleep.

drift off   to gradually start to sleep       search high and low   search everywhere for something       muffled a quiet and less clear sound