[honeybunchesofoats]

The shadow of a haunting figure looms overhead. This late at night the only thing you see staring back at you are white, shining eyes. As they move closer to the light you see deep purple wool and a glint of sharp fangs.

"Why hello there stranger." She steps fully into view and you can finally see her. "My name is Valanar; it's a pleasure."

Her voice is smooth and rich, and you don't know whether to look at her with horror or enchantment. Suddenly, a deep sigh pulls your attention back to her.

"Here's the deal...I can't fall asleep and I'm giving you the job of fixing that."

If you were expecting any hint of embarrassment or guilt on her end, there is none to be found. Her face shows little to no emotion. Oh boy, what have you stumbled into?

Welcome to Sleepy Stories! Once a day you will have a chance to try and impress Valanar with your bedtime story. However there is a small catch

Each day, the colorful clouds in the sky will decide what kind of story she would like to hear, and if you can correctly guess the next day's theme you might just win a special prize!

Everyone is encouraged to use their own sheep in their stories, however if you don't have a sheep or need a few extra characters to tell your story please feel free to use Dreamboat, Karma, or even Valanar herself!

Today's theme is: LOVE

Code: Select all

username + id:
link to sheep: (If you are using your own; you can also use the npc's listed above)
day#:
prompt:
guess tomorrow's theme:

divider credit: https://www.deviantart.com/cloudtrapper/gallery

[honeybunchesofoats]

Rules and Prize Info:
Have Fun!
Anything goes: any medium of writing like poetry, songs, comics, etc. please just make sure it is original work
Booth rollover: Sometime 24 hours after the prompt of the day is posted. I work full time so it will be when I am able to get to CS. I will make a post marking the opening and closing of each day so it will be easy to tell!
Please feel free to edit your post as many times as you like as long as the booth is still open for that day.
Event currency will be given to everyone who completes a prompt.
Additional items like more currency, species items, etc will be given away for Valanar's favorite submission each day and to those who correctly guess the next theme.
If you have any questions please reach out!

Moods: Pick one of these to guess for the next theme
Joy
Sorrow
Horror
Disgust
Surprise
Anger
Love
Hatred
Guilt
Confusion

divider credit: https://www.deviantart.com/cloudtrapper/gallery

[BlueEyedKite]

username + id: BlueEyedKite 34400
link to sheep: Nefarian
day#: 1
prompt: The dreamer is an NPC. In my writing universe dreamers (always anthro animals) and sleep sheep are separate.

IndentionThe ram sitting across from Valanar leaned back in the Victorian-style chair his host had graciously provided. He laced his fingers together behind his head and stared up at the ceiling, lost in thought. The ram, known by most as Nefarian, was a towering figure of 6'4 with long blonde hair pulled into a loose ponytail. Small jet-black horns peeked out just in front of his beanie night cap. His long sheep ears were a tawny tan, in contrast to his fluffy tail which was a deep crimson red. Most of his outfit was red or black: his hoodie and high-top shoes the red while his denim vest and tight jeans the black. He had a look about him, and that look was... bad boy.

Indention" Can't sleep?" His voice was a deep, gravelly baritone." Well," he paused to upturn his lips in a smile that matched a wicked glint in his black eyes." I have just the story for you."

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

IndentionNefarian felt his stomach turn in circles as he slowly descended into the dream he had just entered. He could never get used to that free fall drop. ' Why was it sleep sheep always had to make their entrance top down anyway?' He thought, quite peeved.

IndentionHe didn't have time to do any more thinking as his feet touched down on the dream floor. Nefarian was standing in the middle of an empty city street lit only by a flickering street lamp. A dirty road at that, as he could have sworn he saw something moving amongst the trash pile to his right.

Indention" Helllooooo!" The ram called out." Dreamer, are you here?"

IndentionNefarian didn't beat around the bush when it came to his first task on sleep duty: find the dreamer. Normally it wouldn't be hard to locate them as sleep sheep had the unique ability to see colored aura surrounding the dreamer. They should stick out like a glowing sore thumb, but at the moment Nefarian got the impression he was utterly alone in this nighttime urban landscape.

Indention" What kind of nightmare is empty buildings and grimy streets?" Nefarian said while crossing his arms." What are they, garbage collecto—”

Indention“REEEEEEEEE!”

IndentionNefarian startled backwards and smacked the back of his head into the brick wall behind him. It didn’t physically hurt, as dreams could not harm dreamer or sleep sheep helpers, but the brain is a powerful organ and the ram winced as if he expected throbbing to follow that blow.

Indention“What the goat?” he said with his voice trembling slightly.” Hello! Who’s there?”

IndentionHis eyes were glued on the trash pile from earlier, which he was almost positive was the source of the ear-splitting screech. The trash bags suddenly shivered in place as a dented soup can rolled free from the top of the pile. Nefarian watched the can bounce down the stack then roll as if in slow motion into the intermittent light of the dying street lamp. He felt a building sense of dread as goosebumps prickled up his arms. Before the can was even done rocking in place, he dragged his eyes back to the trash pile as something else moved. It rose up behind the garbage like a ghoulish scarecrow: all long limbs and patches of wispy hair. Worst of all was its glossy un-seeing eyes that were somehow piercing straight into Nefarian’s squirming soul.

Indention“ Nope! Nope!”

IndentionThe sleep sheep had already turned tail and was full out sprinting down the opposite end of the street. He didn’t stop to look back, if he did he would have seen whatever that thing was was racing on all fours after him.

Indention“ Dreamer! Dreamer I need you!” He called out as he ran, darting his gaze left and right in a frantic search for the owner of this nightmare.” I can’t turn this ship around unless I got you at the helm! Help!”

IndentionSomething odd was brought to Nefarian’s attention just then. He could feel his legs churning for all they were worth but the same worn-down building at the end of the road was getting no closer. No, the building seemed to be moving away from him like it was sitting on a conveyor belt set to reverse. He was running in place, like his life depended on it, but everything else was moving away from him!

Indention“ Oh come on!” he shouted, exasperated.

Indention“ Quick! This way!” a female voice came from his left.

Indention“ I can’t! I’m stuck, help me!”

IndentionNefarian continued running in place even as a young woman with black cat ears and tail slipped out from an alleyway to stand by his side. She pulled on his arm, not that it did any good at moving him an inch from his spot. In Nefarian’s black-eyed gaze he saw plumes of purple light waft around her, the dreamer.

Indention“ REEEEEEEEEE!”

IndentionThe zombie-like beast was almost closing the distance between the two nightmare inhabitants.

Indention“ No good! Tell me your favorite balloon animal!” Nefarian all but screamed the question at his newfound companion.

Indention“ My favorite—what?”

Indention“ Answer the question!” he snapped.

Indention“A g-giraffe??” The dreamer stuttered her response as she was watching the nightmare creature reach out a clawed hand for Nefarian.

IndentionIf time could slow down, an observer would notice the ram close his eyes and give a low and slow exhale of breath the color of cherry red. The fear and tension left his face as he breathed out the colorful cloud. This all took place too quickly for the dreamer to take in. To her, there was an eldritch horror abomination reaching for the sleep sheep, then in the next second, a poof of red smoke and a twisted column of green balloons in the shape of a giraffe in its place. The balloon animal fell over harmlessly as Nefarian seemed to be released from his spell, he gave a little hop and a ‘whoop!’

Indention“ I don’t…” the dreamer didn’t finish her sentence, instead letting her words trail off as she stared at the helium-filled giraffe.

Indention“ That’s dream-weaving baby, and this nightmare is saved. You’re welcome!”

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

IndentionValanar stared across at Nefarian, her expression a mixture of surprise and derision.” I’m sorry, a balloon animal?”

Indention“ Give me a break. You try and turn a dream around when you’re scared out of your wits. You gotta be calm to make changes; All the chill I had to spare went into rearranging that monster. And it worked! She kept on dreaming another seven hours. I think I made a street carnival or other once it wasn’t nightmare city.”

IndentionValanar couldn’t stifle a chuckle.” Well, balloon boy, I’m not sleepy but I do have something to think about for later. I’ll give you a pass.”

guess tomorrow's theme: Love (I hope this theme comes up at some point, thanks <3)

[♔Voltaire♔]

username + id: ♔Voltaire♔ (749955)
link to sheep: Cheri
day#: 1
prompt:
Cheri, since she was able to stand, has always been fearful of mannequins. Seeing them in the store windows and in shops has only made it worse. She has constant nightmares of glowing red eyes in the corners of her room, large, towering shadows looming over her.

Before working at LUCID Inc., she had no other choice but to take a retail job to turn some cash, which had the scariest-looking mannequins she had ever seen. One day, her boss asked her to work until close, so, being the lady she is Cheri took the overtime. The retail store was poorly lighted, the backlights flickering every now and then in the corner of her eyes. The store was never busy from the start, however, a few stragglers come in late to browse every now and then.

That night, however, was a slow one. Barely anyone had opened the doors, and Cheri tried everything to keep herself busy. She swept, mopped, and organized shelves; she even grabbed an old deck of playing cards and played Solitaire for a few hours. The white noise in the store because louder as the night progressed, and Cheri slowly found herself dozing off.

When she woke, the store was dark. So dark, that there was no difference when she opened or closed her eyes. Her heart began to race as she scrambled to grab a small lighter from one of the desk drawers. She began to feel around until she found the handle, her fingers touching the cold object. Once she had a hold of it, she flicked it on, a small, orange flame illuminating a small fraction of the dark room. Cheri was terrified, nearly rooted to the floor in fear of something seeing her. She steeled herself though and began to creep toward the door, her footsteps echoing through the room as if there was nothing there to absorb the sound.

But when Cheri took another step, something else did as well.

She whipped her head around, her neck cracking as she did so. She struggled to see through the darkness, trying to make out any sign of anything that could have made the noise. Maybe it was a pipe? Maybe just the building? Cheri took another step, and another followed after her, sounding closer than the last. She shut her eyes, her heart beating in her ears. When she slowly opened her eyes, she was met with a pair of glowing red ones, almost in touching distance. They began to multiply, black figures beginning to appear underneath and around them, and Cheri screamed. She could smell melting plastic and could feel the heat of their eyes on her skin. Whipping around, she made a mad dash for the door, grabbing the handle and realizing it was locked. She began to frantically sob, trying everything to open it, banging on the glass for help. When she turned around the mannequins began to close in. As one reached out to her, her vision turned white.

Waking up with a gasp, Cheri frantically looked around at the empty store, everything in its rightful place, and the lights still flickering. Grabbing her things, she quickly closed up shop, locking the door tightly and looking back every now and then at the mannequins in the storefront window. She then began to run at full speed away from the retail, reminding herself to never close up again.

Two glowing red eyes watched as she hit a corner and disappeared out of sight.


guess tomorrow's theme: Guilt

[Joke's On You]

username + id: Joke's On You
link to sheep: Winnie
day#: 1
prompt:

Nothing.

Not even a sound.

There was no light, only darkness.

The ewe crept through the darkness wearily, eyes shifting from side to side, ears forward, listening for anything. Anything that dared make a sound. Each dreamscape was different. But this one? It was downright weird. Not once had she ever encountered a dreamscape that was practically a never ending void in each direction. Perhaps it just hadn't developed yet? Whatever the case was, it was... unnerving, to say the least.

Suddenly, there was light.

Because of how dark the room was before, the sudden change in scenery had temporarily blinded Winnie, which caused her to stand still, waiting until her eyes finally adapted to the light. It was a slow process, and Winnie disliked it very much. She hated not being able to see her surroundings. The thought of being completely unaware of your surroundings was anxiety inducing to the core. Anything could happen at any moment, and perhaps that's why Winnie was so on edge. Everything about this dream so far was downright unnatural to her.

Slowly... her eyes began to adjust to the light and what was previously blindness, was now a blur. It was better than nothing, at least she could kind of see her surroundings at this point. Well, enough to make out that she was in a bedroom of sorts, surrounded by what looked like different enclosures that would be used to contain more unique pets.

Ah, dreams about pets. That was her specialty. It must've just taken a minute for the dream to develop, just as she thought in her previous hypothesis.

Finally, after a couple more minutes, Winnie's eyes finally adjusted to the light and she was able to finally explore the room that the dreamscape had put her in. There were several unique pets in this room, which is what allowed Winnie to make the assumption that this bedroom probably belonged to a teenager or adult. Children in her experience, did not keep pets as unique as these in their room. Most of the times, they couldn't handle without adult supervision either way. There were enclosures belonging to snakes, lizards, frogs. And...

Winnie grew cold at the mere sight of a particular enclosure in the room. She walked closer to it and instantly froze. The specific creature that belonged to that enclosure was gone. Her heartrate spiked the minute she saw that the enclosure with the missing creature, and her breath seemed to stop for a minute.

It was then she realized that she wasn't in the owner's dream. She was in someone else's who knew the owner and found themselves particularly afraid of this pet that they owned. The dream that formed around her had already been corrupted by a Nightmare. And now that Winnie was figuring out that had been entered into a dream containing her biggest fear along with the dreamer, the dream was doomed to be a bad one. The Nightmare had won.

The ewe had spun around and slowly began to exit the room, wanting to get out of it as it was growing more cramped now that she was entering a state of panic and fear. As she stepped out of the room, she realized that the next one felt all the more small, as even though it was bigger, it contained more hiding places for the creature that was somewhere, roaming around.

She was feeling queasy now and the room around her began to spin. Although, she knew this was just her mind playing tricks on her because of the panic that she was feeling. She was starting to shut down. Everything was growing to be too much for her as she stood there, now frozen again in the middle of what she assumed to be the living room of the home she was in.

There was a ringing in her ear shortly after she shut down. All she heard was the ringing. And then, she felt it. The feeling of something... crawling up her leg, all slow like. She knew what it was. She knew the instant she saw the inside of the empty enclosure, what she would be dealing with.

The thing... it would crawl up a little more and then stop- as if taking a minute to get used to it's new surroundings, before crawling up more. But she knew this bad dream wouldn't stop until she saw it with her own eyes, not just felt it. Each step the thing took on her was more nerve wracking than the rest. All eight legs, crawling up her body, until finally, Winnie grew the smallest amount of courage to look at exactly what it was, even though she already knew.

As she made eye contact with the hairy creature, Winnie let out a scream. There was a large tarantula, sitting there, on her back.

She was too afraid to move again. Until finally, the tarantula ran up her back, toward her face, at what seemed like a full sprint.

Winnie let out an ear piercing scream just as it started to run at her face. And that scream was followed by darkness overtaking her once again.

The dreamer had probably waken up after experiencing the same experience of the tarantula running up their body at a full sprint.

The only curse of Winnie's dreams: she couldn't handle anything that had to do with spiders.

....

That experience, was the purest horror that she and anyone with arachnophobia could ever feel.

And the worst part? Winnie could still feel all eight of the tarantula's legs as it slowly made its way up her body. [940 words]

guess tomorrow's theme: Sorrow

[Sleepytally]

username + id: sleepytally + 995839
link to sheep: Dreamboat
day#: 1
prompt:
Valanar I'm not going to sit here and try to come up with a story on the spot when I have the perfect horror story that I have been having for Y E A R S! A group of friends go out to explore an abandoned neighborhood that is now overgrown and woods surrounded! it wasn't those houses right next to each other type of neighborhood it was the ones with the most extensive land that you can't call your neighbor your neighbor. but down the road, it's the cliche scary mansion on top of a hill that is the place we're headed to once we get there you look around and everyone looks nervous but ready... but ... for what? As you walk in the doors instantly shut behind you and you are faced with darkness and the unknown hearing noises not knowing where you're going you feel someone grab you and guide you "I don't have much time but we have to get to the top floor if we don't we will never make it out of here" not knowing this person but hearing such comfort in their voice you feel somewhat safe who is this person. a door is opened and you can finally see light you look to the person holding your hand but their face is blurred almost like you weren't meant to know this person... yet. you see some of the other people who were with you outside but some are nowhere to be found until you hear screaming behind the door you just came from. you feel their hand grab yours again as you look into a blur "There's no time we have to go!" urgently we run to some stairs while everyone else watches like they're spectators waiting for their turn. you see a beam of light come from the ceiling and spirit-like creatures come from it "WHY DID YOU DO IT, WHY!" the spirit starts crying out as it slowly moves around the people start to move around with the spirit slowly like they were invisible to the spirit "WHY WOULD YOU TAKE MY EYES, MOTHER, WHY!" as you try to understand a little flash of light catches your eye and you look to where it came from inside a half-closed drawer and grab it. a glass ball that resembles a blue/green eye your eyes widen and show a blurry face and they (you're guessing) look at you or the glass eye for a moment before saying "I hope you remember me by floor 6" and pull another glass eye out of their back pocket that is just green and hands it to you "now go give them to her but don't say a word" you look at the blurry face with confusion and concern but you know there isn't time (but for what) so you walk up to the spirit and it bumps into you "MOTHER IS THAT YOU! MOTHER IM SORRY I WILL BE A GOOD GIRL I PROMISE PLEASE!" the spirit begs in front of you and you try to hold back tears as you grab her hands and puts both eyes in them. the spirit then puts her eyes back in and starts crying more "You're not mother... where is she?" the spirit looks around confused and scared about to cry again before you say "She will never hurt you again." you pull her in for a hug and she shrinks into a more child-like version and starts crying more as she holds on to you... the cries slowly die down you realize she disappeared then the floor starts to shake "oh no" you hear as blurry face frantically grabbed you by the hand and rushes back to the stairs "whats happening?" you ask terrified while you look around to everyone else they're confused like they didn't think this could happen. loud stomping comes from the room you escaped from and the door opens and a loud scream fills the room the ceiling smaches down almost like an elevator and now you are in the 2nd floor.

you wake up years could go by and you could forget all about the dream until one night while falling asleep you are right where you left off such a trippy sequence so far I have made it to the 4th floor but I have not had the dream since.
guess tomorrow's theme: Confusion

I finished this story last night and thought I submitted the form and went to bed when I opened my laptop to find it said "The submitted form was invalid. Try submitting again." I still wanted to submit it because it was fun to relive this dream again

[BadgerBuddies]

username + id: BadgerBuddies 68823
link to sheep: Marianna
day#: 1
prompt: The sun was setting. The sky was an eerie reddish color as it had been storming all day. The air was thick and humid; it felt heavy on the fleece and was making wool frizz. Worst of all, mosquitos were out in swarms - or so Marianna and her friends thought the mosquitos were the worst of their problems….

As the sun concluded its day shift, a lustrous full moon made its grand arrival. There have always been rumors of what happens on the night of a full moon if it’s been raining, and the conditions are just right…it’s the right mix of crazy behavior and swampy environment to summon…. Florida Man…

But, that was just an old legend, right? Well, Mari and the other sheep seemed to think so. The group had already had part of their camping trip out in the middle of the woods dampened (literally) by the rain, and the group was determined to stick it out to make the best of it and still have fun. When they heard rustling of the leaves around them, they played it off easily, must’ve been a squirrel or something. They heard ripples from the nearby lake, again, the fish are probably active at this time of night, right?

The sounds surrounding Mari and the other sheep began getting louder, as if something large was moving around and disturbing the peace. Branches began to break, and some faint grumbling could be heard. The sheep became very nervous at this point, not knowing what was going on. As the grumbling sounds got louder, one of the sheep began to panic, and Mari ushered the group into their tent in hopes of staying hidden. Mari watched what was going on outside, curious to see if what was lurking could possibly be the Florida Man from legends.

Mari quickly and quietly tells everyone to hush as she sees a set of eyes in the darkness of the trees. They all hush and gather around her to look out where she could from the tent as well. Before anyone could even speak, there was a sudden burst through the trees! It was a massive, ugly, snarling alligator, with a man riding on top of him! Could it be, FLORIDA MAN?!

The sheep all try their best to stay quiet, but the gator can smell fear. They all huddle together in the tent and hope for the best. Florida Man and his gator steed begin to charge around the campsite, destroying everything, with the gator devouring all of the food the sheep packed with them. Once everything else was sufficiently ruined, Florida Man looked right over at tent full of cowering sheep and steered his gator at it. He and his gator was charging at the tent, full speed when suddenly….

Marianna woke up!

She was quite shaken, understandably, from such an odd and terrifying dream. She’s not even sure how her head even thought of any of that, as she’s never gone camping nor been to Florida. She gets up to get herself a drink of water and calm down a bit before curling up and going back to sleep, hopefully dreaming about something a little less scary than Florida Man.
(I’m not good at scary so hopefully silly scary is ok:)

guess tomorrow's theme: (I am) confusion (why is this one Kansas and this one is Arkansas? America explain!)

[Northstar.]

username + id: Northstar. 65952
link to sheep: Lace
day#: 1
prompt: horror

It comes for her in her dreams. She knows by the way the air stills - and dreams are never still - and frost forms on her lashes and fingertips.

The hillside of spun sugar flowers in shades of lilac, and cotton candy, and gold are overtaken by frost and thick fog. Her breath puffs out in swirls and loop-de-loops of cold that shouldn't be. The twin moons in the dream sky shrink and disappear. The stars frown and wink out one by one. She's surrounded by a ring of dim light that doesn't stretch far into the foggy dark. 

It's here.

Twin eyes light up in the dark - a figure shrouded in twisting darkness. They do not blink.

Lace does. Her eyes flutter for half a dream second - and when they open the wraith is closer.

She hates this part. It's almost the same every time.

A wind picks up and her eyes water. She doesn't blink. The wraith remains still. She takes one step back, then another and another.  Her eyes are so dry. She tries to wake up.

She blinks.

And it's closer. Jagged teeth glinting in her ring of light.

More steps backwards, careful and slow, until the creature is obscured in darkness once more.

Her heartbeat echoes in her teeth and the feathers on her wings ruffle.  Something skitters across her feet and she backpedals. Her heel catches and she falls. Her eyes close for too long.

She's scared to open them. Lace is never scared.

Why won't she wake up?

There's a whisper of breath on her face.

Her eyes snap open.

It's there - with it's glowing, expressionless eyes and starving mouth. Cold fear floods her. It smiles.

She screams.

She wakes.



guess tomorrow's theme: surprise

[Knickknacks]

username + id: knickknacks + 815546
link to sheep: rue
day#: 1
prompt:

"You want a horror story, huh?" Rue tilted her head to one side, looking a bit skeptical. "If it were me, I think something like that would keep me up rather than lull me to sleep, y'know? But, uh-" she glanced a bit nervously at Valanar, hoping she hadn't caused any offense. "-It's your choice of story theme. Right. Of course. So- a horror story it is, I suppose."


- - - - -


To all appearances, she was alone- a dark hallway stretching in front and behind, no end in sight. Sconces lined the walls, but they were few and far between, casting only faint halos into the shadows of the hall.

Yes, she appeared to be alone- but could not shake the feeling of being watched.

Every step she takes, there is a sound that follows it. It could be the creak of her own footsteps. Or it could be the creak of someone else's. She cannot tell, for the hallway is dark- whenever she turns to try and see, she is unable to pick out any shape amid the shadows. More likely than not, it is all in her mind. More likely than not, she truly is alone. But therein lies the horror that sets in, in being alone and unsure of whether you are really alone. Unable to shake the feeling that someone is following your steps.


- - - - -


"-eh, I'm not that great with horror stories, honestly," Rue said, trailing off with a bit of a shrug. "I'm thinking of- like- you know that feeling when you're walking down a dark hall, and you know you're alone, but you still feel like something's going to reach out of the dark and grab you by the ankles? So you walk a little faster even though you know there's nothing there? That's what I'm going for, here. Hope it counts as horrifying enough for you."

guess tomorrow's theme: disgust

[Cactologist]

username + id: Cactologist, 931237
link to sheep: Rosella
day#: 1
prompt:
My sheep are normally to busy dreamweaving to have their own dreams, but when they do, all the hours spent in dreams can take a toll...

Rosella wrenched into an upright position, sheets tangled, bed creaking. She shivered from the cold sweat still running down her back, her labored breath and her dimly ticking clock the only sounds in the pitch black room. Her room.
It was just a dream.
She was safe.
In an effort to bring peace to her racing heart, she counted off the seconds with the clock
Tick, tock, tick, tock
Rosella reached for her glasses on her nightstand, instead bumping the cup of water she often left there. She flinched, but grabbed it instead. Any bit of normalcy to bring her back to reality was appreciated. As she raised the glass, she was troubled by flashbacks of her nightmare, being chased, slipping without traction, the red eyes and claws of beastly shadows closing in from all sides.
Tick tock tick tock
Pushing the thoughts away, Rosella downed the glass. Immediately startled by its warmth, she spat it back out, gagging from the metallic aftertaste. Her sheets were splattered with the unmistakable dark liquid, spots that began to spread and flow. Panic coursed through her once again, and she hurled the glass away, struggling to free herself from the sheets. She waited for the glass to shatter, but her ears were instead met with the reverberating gong of the clock, a pang loud enough to make her recoil as she finally freed herself from the now soaking sheets. Blind without her glasses in the darkness, she groped in the empty space where her nightstand was second ago.
Gong, gong, gong, gong
Each reverberation was louder than the last, now shaking her bed with each repetition. This was wrong, everything was wrong. Rosella swung her legs off the slippery, dripping bed, attempting to make a run for the door, but her feet never hit the floor. She scrambled, latching onto the bed with all her might as the warm liquid ran down her arms, onto her face. Her world shook with the clock’s cacophony, faster and more aggressive. Dizzying. She was slipping.
Gong gong gong gong
She gagged, throwing her head back to avert the flow, and there, in the darkness above her, shined two red eyes. She screamed, but no sound came out. All she knew was the searing pain as claws wrenched her hands from their grip on her sheets, and the sensation of failing, flailing without purchase.
Gonggonggonggong
Rosella jerked to a stop, her left side taking the brunt of the force, but the liquid was gone. And the clock’s obnoxious chiming. Now, it only ticked quietly, nearly silent. Oh, and the moonlight, sweet moonlight, illuminated the hardwood floor her face was pressed against. A floor she recognized and knew well. A floor she couldn’t trust. In one motion, she thrust herself into an upright position and pressed her back to the side of her bed.
Tick, tock, tick, tock
After the darkness, the light from the moon streaming in through the window nearly blinded her. Rosella leaned into a shadow to let her eyes adjust, rapidly taking in her room, searching desperately for any proof that it could be real. Wait. What shadow? Nothing sat in front of her window. Her breath caught.
Tick tock tick tock
Rosella didn’t dare to breathe, to blink, to move. Her vision flashed red in panic, but slowly, reluctantly, she raised her eyes. The figure, she already knew, was immensely tall. Impossibly broad. Monstrous proportions, expanding, flowing outward. As she raised her eyes, the once bright moonlight dimmed, blocked out by the beast before her. In this way, she saw the red glow from its eyes long before she dared meet them.
Gong
No.
She pressed backward, but her bed was a stone wall pushing back. Pushing her forward. The figure’s edges seeped outwards like black smoke, flowed towards her like blood from a wound.
Gong
She tried to look away from the jarring red eyes, but she was ensnared, helpless. An attempt to scream sent her gagging up the dark liquid, an attempt to scramble away sent her slipping, flailing, drowning. The darkness enveloped her, and all she knew was pain like a thousand claws mauling her innermost being. All she saw was black. All she felt was red.
Gong
Rosella lashed for her alarm. Desperate and irritated, her arm numb beyond pins and needles, as if it wasn’t even her own.
She sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes, but when she opened them, it was still dark. Odd. She glanced at the clock, illuminated in the moonlight. 11:59.
Tick, tock, tick, tock

guess tomorrow's theme: Joy (after this, we can only hope!)