The Nightmare

Darkness....

Darkness.....

...Just darkness everywhere, stretching towards what looked like an infinite distance.

.....And somewhere in that darkness was a ravenous abyss — an abyss so black that it made the darkness surrounding it appear inferior by a large margin.

That abyss seemed to have a near bottomless depth and it's size was enormous enough to make just the parts visible around it's edge give the impression of having the capacity to swallow the largest of the oceans and the tallest of the mountains many times over.

But the most significant thing about that abyss was neither it's depth nor it's immensity, it was something entirely different, something intangible and vague — it was the ambience radiating out of it.

That abyss gave off a sensation totally different from it's apperance, it was not the feeling of insatiable hunger and the desire to devour everything that one would expect to feel around it but in fact the feeling it gave out was it's exact opposite.

That abyss had a sacred aura around it, it was awe-inspiring and majestic enough to make anyone watching kneel and submit — submit to the supreme being before them, a divinity who seemed to possess a never-ending compassion and the will to serve the role of a safe haven to anyone seeking asylum.

****

High above that abyss, shrouded in the all-encompassing darkness was a human.

His body visible in that darkness, despite there being no source of light. He appeared to be in his late teenage years and was black-haired.

His eyes, although difficult to discern because of being completely bloodshot, had the same colour as his hairs and was directed towards the deepest and the centre-most part of the abyss, while carrying indescribable hatred deep within.

His face which would ordinarily be considered quite handsome was filled with extreme pain, sorrow and agony.

He seemed to be struggling, trying to move his body, wanting to cry his heart out, to find a way out of this misery he was experiencing but alas, his body appeared to have been frozen in the void, not able to make a even a single movement.

Time kept passing & passing....

After what felt like years, the teenager finally managed to barely to open his mouth.

"WHY ME?!!!!!" he questioned, to whom? he did not know.

The voice that came out of his mouth contained rampant fury and feeling of injustice.

Suddenly his gaze which was concentrated towards the deepest part of the abyss, slowly started losing a part of their awareness with each passing moment.

And before he knew it, everything went blank.

****

Inside of a room where everything was arranged in a simple and monotonous way, with just a bed, a study table and a book cabinet.

The same black-haired youth opened his eyes and looked around himself, wanting to make sure whether he was out of that accursed nightmare.

The teenager or Sam felt the erratic beating of his heart and the extreme emotions lingering in his mind from the nightmare — something he had become totally used to, having suffered the same thing for more than half of his whole life.

*sigh*

Sam sighed and got up from his bed, his face completely blank with no trace of emotion of any kind appearing.

Sam sat up straight on the bed and stared out of the window, at the slowly rising Sun and heard the birds chirping, he felt his heartbeat slowly stabilizing.

Seeing him now, it was quite easy to notice the air of hopelessness and despair surrounding him. His eyes lacked the aspiration and expectations from life one would expect from some of his age, they looked no different from the one's belonging to a dead man.

...After what felt like forever, Sam turned his gaze towards a photograph on his study table, which depicted a black haired child around 5 years in age giving a dazzling smile while in arms of a man and a beautiful woman next to him, both smiling warmly.

He stared deeply at the photograph for quite a few minutes, while deep in thoughts. A rare trace of warmth appearing of his face.....

****

Coming down from his room upstairs. Sam saw a man reading newspaper on the dining table, he appeared to be an adult version of Sam himself. His father.

He was a person in his late thirties, cheerful by nature, someone who always thought about his family's joy before his own and had sacrificed many things for Sam and his mother.

Seeing his face, Sam felt a pang of guilt in his heart.

"Good morning Dad!" Sam greeted with a smile and no sign of previous dead look on his face, except his eyes which were still as cold as a corpse's.

"....Morning Sam" His dad said, turning towards him with a bright smile.

Sam walked towards him and sat on the chair opposite to him.

".....Did you have that nightmare again today? " His father asked after some while with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"Nope, it's been like eight months since I last had it. You don't have to ask this every morning." Sam lied while trying to sound carefree and constantly kept a smile on his face.

"Well it's already become a habit of mine, anyways I'm really glad that you don't suffer every night anymore. "  Sam's dad said with a relieved expression on his face.

They spent some more time talking when his mom arrived with the breakfast.

They all had breakfast with smile on their faces while conversing about stuff, and Sam smiling along with them while trying to make it seem as earnest as possible.

Later Sam stood up first to get ready for his high school after having eaten breakfast.

"Bye Mom, bye Dad" Sam said to his parents, heading out of the house for highschool.

""See you later, Son "" said his parents in a cheerful voice.

****

Unbeknownst to Sam the moment he stepped out of the house, the smile on his parent's face faded and hint of tears appeared in their eyes.