Nightmare Part 1

A boom echoed in the darkness. I shivered. My arms tensed, causing my eyes to flutter awake. The boom was a resounding noise that permeated the fleeing darkness.

Eyelids flickered to the listless ache I felt. Resounding booms kept me feeling something akin to sanity. Where was that sound coming from?

My eyes came open fully. They shifted around a bit of searching until I realized I was in my room. Right, I had fallen asleep, had I? I looked around and wondered where the book was.

It had to be around here, yet; it was not in sight. A terrible pain swelled in the pit of my stomach.

Food, I forgot I had not eaten. I drew my attention to the door. Getting up, I jumped off the bed and went towards the door. I came outside and saw Rowan's big frame in the middle of the dining area.

He wore a padded straw jacket and a short dirty brown linen trousers that ended at his knees. His black hair drawn back and tied in a ponytail that sprung out like a stifled cloud.

His back was to me. "Rowan! Man, am I glad to see you!" I shout. Rowan walked forward. Maybe he had not heard me. I jogged ahead of him.

I waved.

He walked right by me, no acknowledgement whatsoever. I twirled, watching him go straight to Annie and Joel.

That was unlike him to have just walked past me. "Wait, did I do something? Is he angry with me?" I mumbled.

I pushed my hand over my hair in distraught confusion. My hair, oh, of course! He had not recognized me, that's why. Silly me, I started laughing while approaching Rowan.

"It's me, Nils." I cracked up at this point. No reaction from Rowan.

The pounding travels through my head and nicks me, causing me to shudder in reaction. What was that? Where was that coming from, this pain?

Joel said, "What's up, little brother?"

I waved my hand in Rowan's face, but he completely ignored me and looked up at Joel. "I am great." Rowan nodded with strong conviction.

A swell of blush swept the back of my neck as I shifted on my feet. I motioned at Rowan. Nothing occurred. "You didn't recognize me, did you?" I pat his shoulder. There was still no acknowledgement whatsoever.

Okay, something was wrong. Annie came around and hugged Rowan. "You going hunting today?" Annie asked.

Rowan laughed and said, "Yup, I am going to catch a deer today for sure."

Joel said, "Do not get too overconfident now." Annie snickered and turned back to the counter. She literally said nothing to me. The headache seared with more intent.

Wait, I was right in front of the door of the kitchen. We were all in the kitchen, yet they were not even looking at me. Why was no one talking to me?

Frustration gripped my frazzled mind. The searing simmered, settling into a ridged throbbing. It consumed my messy thoughts.

I huffed and puffed. "Okay, very funny guys! You can stop ignoring me now." Still nothing. I looked at them moving and going on about their day without a care in the world.

I shook, waving my eyes at the food as Annie gestured at Rowan's face. His responding laughter. My fingers tilted inward as I considered what was really happening here.

My lips opened, but my tongue seized up in terror. Ideas ran through my pain laden mind, but all of them were madness and I sought no validation of them.

No…

I walked up to them and threw myself in the midst of them. There was no way they could have ignored me now.

I was right in front of their faces, literally. Still, they looked right through me like I was nothing.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, I jumped back. What was going on? Annie and Joel knew my predicament, so there was no way they had not recognized me.

It had to be a cruel joke they were playing on me. I touched Annie on her arm. She had not reacted.

Was I…?

It hasn't been seven days yet, has it? Had I slept through the days? No! No! I wasn't ready yet! I cried to myself. How could I have slept that long?

The throbbing pain pounded in my head, hard. I fidgeted, feeling a sense of confusion. What, why were things blurring before my eyes? No, it could not have been over. This cannot have happened.

I freaked out and tried to gather my thoughts. Chaos ensued in my mind. I was losing myself.

"Nils…" it said like a gentle calming breeze to the thrashing in the specter of my head. Wait, had I heard that correctly? Whose voice was that? I looked toward.

The three of them sat before me at the dinner table. They had not the faintest idea I was there. None of them spoke my name. I was losing it, wasn't I? The voice got just a little louder. "Nils…"

I looked around the room and saw no one. Was it outside or maybe I was losing it?

My eyes caught sight of the front door. Light beamed through the edges of it. The window had the same blinding light permeating through.

The outside was not clear to me, and that had an unnatural tinge to it. Caution guided me to the door. I needed some fresh air, but the door will not pull towards me. What was going on?

The pain hits hard in the back of my head and had me flinching. My jaw pulled in condescension at my plight. What was happening to me?

I started feeling trapped. The room spun and left me witless. "Nils!" The voice was louder this time. Terrified, an icy wind passed by. The shaking that consumed me never stopped.

Was I dead? It felt like I was dying? I must have actually been dead. On my knees now, I stared at my friends and sister.

My hand lifted and tried to grasp them, but all I got was nothing but air. They continued laughing on without me. I guessed they were doing fine. They must not have missed me at all.

So, this was what being dead felt like? A lonely existence. It rested on my back and broke it into the stiff air like unsettled dust.

I melted down to the ground, tears welling up inside me as this heaviness swept over me and I cried for the isolation I felt. The time I missed, the goodbyes not said, the lack of closure.

The pain was overwhelming. I screamed, "I wasn't ready yet! Why?" No one heard me. The sound of my voice frightened me, though. Its enduring echo caused my eyes to shoot open.