Night Dream

At a bus stop on a chilly fall morning stands two kids, around middle school age, bundled in garments as they wait for their bus to come and get them out of the cold. They are also waiting for another friend of theirs, Kyle Connors, who takes the bus to school as well. They both wonder who will come first, their friend or the bus? Soon they get their answer as they see their friend turn the corner walking down the street to the stop.

“Dude, did you get any sleep last night?” Jake looked at his friend with concern as he responded with his head shaking.

“Was it those nightmares again?” Lily locked eyes with her friend’s sleepy and baggy eyes as she paused for a moment. “The one with The Welder?”

Kyle nodded his head.

For the past few night’s Kyle had been having a recurring nightmare involving a figure that he and his friends refer to as “The Welder”. The reason was since the figure was dressed like one; sporting an apron, gloves, boots, and leather welders hood as well as shackles with broken chains on both his wrists and ankles. The Welder did nothing but chase Kyle in his sleep, terrifying the poor boy and preventing him from getting any decent good night’s sleep.

“Do you think they have doctors for sleeping and dreams?” Kyle looked at Jake and Lily for an answer.

“I mean I don’t see why not” Jake shrugged his shoulders, “But what would that even be called? A Dreamatologists?”

“Isn’t that what your sister is Lily?” Kyle tried to recall the name of the profession Lily’s sister since she had mentioned it to them before.

“She’s a Dermatologist”, she snickered shaking her head.

The three continued to debate on what the study of sleep is until the bus came and they all boarded. On the bus, they resorted to searching on their phones for the answer, eventually finding the name for the study of sleep. It’s Somnology.

The first two periods of his classes were awful for Kyle. On any other day, he would usually space out and not pay attention to said subjects. But in his current state? It was a struggle to even keep his eyes open without aimlessly nodding his head from dozing off to awake. Luckily he had Jake in first period and Lily in second period to keep him awake. But then came third period, where he had Ms. Angela for English and neither of his friends to keep him from falling asleep. If the two classes before were hardly interesting, then English to him was just absolutely dreadful.

He could care less about the whole subject in general. Maybe he wouldn’t have such feelings toward the subject had it not been his teacher. Ms. Angela was a grumpy old woman in her sixties with blond and white hair and a face that looked like she wanted to see the manager for even the slightest inconvenience. Also, she treats her students differently from those that she favors dearly while some students she seems to have a bone to pick with. Kyle, unfortunately, fell into the latter category.

Kyle had a hard time trying to stay awake. The class was doing popcorn reading on a book that he could care less about. With every student that was called on to read, he felt his eyes get heavier, like a child being read to before bed. His head rocked back and forth, up and down. His eyelids twitched as he did his best to keep them open. But soon they started slowly droop as he tried to stay awake. Stay awake. Stay awake…

“Mr. Connors” the faint voice of a woman echoed in Kyle’s ears.

“Mr. Connors!” The voice repeated his name, this time with a louder tone. Kyle this time shot up to sitting up straight with a dazed look on his face. The class giggled whilst he rubbed his eyes.

“Sleeping in my class now are we?” Everyone’s eyes were looking at Kyle as Ms. Angela put him on the spot. She had stopped the class reading to address the sleeping boy.

“Sorry miss…” Kyle was turning red from embarrassment.

Ms. Angela moved her gaze to the rest of the class “Now may I remind you all then that this is middle school, not kindergarten. There isn’t any naptime anymore, that time is over” then she looked at Kyle, “right Kyle?”

“Yes ma’am…” the class giggled again. Ms. Angela smiled before looking at the rest of the class to continue the lesson. Kyle slumped into his seat and held up his book, hoping to hide his reddened face from everyone in his class. The rest of the hour, he stayed awake the whole time as he aimlessly read and anxiously waited for the bell to ring. He just wanted to get out of this class and out of Ms. Angela’s sight. Finally, what seemed like forever, the bell rang and he was able to bolt it out of class to his next period. Not long after fourth period, Kyle headed to the Cafeteria and meets up with Jake and Lily.

“No, she did not…” Lily looked at Kyle with disbelief while holding onto her sandwich.

“That’s messed up man” Jake shook his head as he stabbed his fork into his spaghetti. “I mean, did she have to call you out like that?”

“Well, I was sleeping in her class-” Lily cut him off there, “But that doesn’t mean she has to embarrass you like that.”

“I swear, it’s like she has it out for me or something…” he looked down at the spaghetti and poked around it with his fork. With the way he was feeling, he didn’t have much of an appetite. He wished he could get back at Ms. Angela for embarrassing him like that in class. But what could he do? She was a teacher and he was just a student. If only he had some way to do so.

“Hey Kyle!” from the table across the three, sat the school bully Derrick and his posse trying to get Kyle’s attention.

Kyle, Jake, and Lily all faced toward the table. “You need mommy to read you a bedtime story!” This was followed by a howl of laughter.

Unfortunately, Derrick was in the same class as Kyle when Ms. Angela called him out.

Another one of Derrick’s friends’ chimes in “Nah he needs some milk!” Followed by even louder laughing.

“Dude, you really need to get something done about your nightmares,” Jake looked at Kyle as he nodded his head while the group across them continued to laugh their heads off.

The rest of the day went without a hitch as the three made their way to sixth period followed by seventh period. Finally, the last bell rings, and the three head to the bus to make their way to their stop while also talking about ways to help with Kyle’s nightmare. Jake searched online and suggested a night light, but Kyle has a hard time sleeping with a light in the room. Lily suggested talking with a therapist, though Kyle believes that won’t be necessary as they are just nightmares and will eventually go away. Soon the bus reached their destination where the three got off and said their goodbyes before making their way to their respective homes.

Kyle always enjoyed the walk home from school. Going down West Newton Rd., there are hardly any cars that drive through it making Kyle able to appreciate the silence of the walk. After around ten minutes of walking, he finally reaches the entrance of the “Sunnyside Apartments” complex where he walks through to find his apartment. Then, just as he was walking up the steps up to his apartment, he receives a text from his mom, Claire. “Hey sweetie, will be coming home late again. Frozen pizza in the freezer for you to heat up for dinner. Love you and see you later tonight” He responded with “ok” and “thanks” before putting his phone in his pocket and reaching for his house key. As he entered the door, he passed by the small kitchen before setting his bag on the chair in the dining room. The apartment was small, consisting of two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a kitchen looking out into an area big enough for a small dining table and furniture to make a living room. In said living room were cans of alcohol on the table and the floor with numerous stains on the carpet. There were dirty clothes draped on the couch and piles of paper and junk on the dining and living room tables. It also smelt like alcohol, which was from his mom’s boyfriend, Phil.

Ever since Kyle’s dad passed away when he was little, his life had mostly been just him and his mom. He didn’t mind it though. His mom always did her best to keep their little apartment tidy, even if she was tired from work. She used to come home earlier in the day to do these things and take care of Kyle and his every need. However, that all changed a few months ago when his mom met Phil at her work when she tended his wounds after getting into a bar fight. That should have been the first red flag about the guy, but for some reason, the two ended up hooking up and now he lives with them at their apartment. Kyle did not care for the guy at all and Phil didn’t care about him either. The only thing that he knew about him was that he was either on the couch drinking or out gambling and constantly reeked of alcohol. Other than that, Kyle kept his distance from him and vice versa. There are nights where Kyle can hear the two arguing in their bedroom. Why does she still put up with him? Every time Kyle asked her about their bouts, she always told him that it was nothing and that everything was all right. But he knew that she wasn’t.

He went into his room where he lay on his bed as he stared at the popcorn ceiling. It felt so tiring going to school running on what must have been three hours of sleep the night before. He really wanted to sleep. But at the same time, he couldn’t. Every time he closed his eyes, he waited and waited for that moment where it did not look like he was just staring at the blackness that was the back of his eyelids, yet to no avail. After 30 mins of being unable to sleep, he decides to mindlessly browse the internet for some time before trying to do the homework that his classes gave him to do after school.

For the next few hours, Kyle put pencil to paper, flipped numerous pages, scoured the internet for solutions and interpretations, and texted his friends for answers. Thank goodness he had Jake and Lily, otherwise, he would be flunking his classes due to his current state. At a little past seven, Kyle decided to take a break and popped the pizza in the oven. Lily had suggested that he should try searching up if there is a meaning behind his dreams. So while he ate, he scoured the internet trying to find out what dreaming of a Welder means.

From what he could find, dreaming of a Welder had many interpretations. Some sights claimed that it means to be careful with how he spent his money. As if he needed it, he wished he had money that he could spend carelessly. Other interpretations he found had something to do with either need to incorporate something into his life, or something good will happen in his life. He pondered on both these possibilities. Maybe he should incorporate a better sleeping schedule? Better study habits? Pay better attention to class? Nah, that’s not it. But he wouldn’t mind having something good in his life as there are many things that he could think would be great to have: a new house, a better car, his mom not having to work so long, a new gaming counsel, a new phone, money, or even Phil finally getting out of his and his mom’s life.

Just as he was putting his dishes in the sink, he heard the door unlock and his mom enter the house. They greeted each other before Kyle got some of the plastic bags that were in his mother’s arms and brought them to the table. After exchanging some small talk involving each other day and that Phil would be out tonight, she stopped the conversation.

“I got some for you” she rummaged through her purse before pulling something out from it and handing it to Kyle.

He opened his hand out to her and she dropped what was in her fist.

“It’s a…bear?” Before him in his hand was a small four-legged bear figurine made out of some kind of black stone that glossed under the dining room light.

“I’m told that it helps with nightmares” Kyle looked at his mom with a confused look on his face as she elaborated. “I was at the store getting groceries when I saw this guy on the side of the road selling little trinkets which he says can help give good dreams and sleep.”

“Mmhhh…”Kyle looked at the little figurine unconvinced that it would work. His mom was never really one to believe in superstitions like magic or ghosts and neither was he. Were things this bad that she needed to result in something like this?

“I know it sounds like hocus pocus, but who knows, maybe it will work. Unless you still want to go see a doctor?” She looked at her son with a tired but concerned look. “No, it’s ok” This is followed by him putting a hand in front of his mouth as he yawned, “I’m sure it’ll go away soon. Who knows, maybe this thing will work.” He held up the figurine, turning it around in his hand.

He knew that they can’t afford to go to the doctors. With money already being tight, he would feel bad putting his mom on the spot to pay for it. And Phil was out of the question, there is no way he would spend his money for Kyle, especially for something like nightmares. With his mom convinced, he thanked her for the figurine then headed for his room.

After placing the bear on his nightstand, he lay on his bed and stared at the ceiling. His eyes felt so heavy after being sleep-deprived for so long. As much as he wanted to fall asleep, at the same time he didn’t want to. He wanted to stay awake with the lamp on the nightstand illuminating his room and not be chased by The Welder again. Why was this happening to him? He told himself that it was all going to be alright, that tonight would be different. Tonight, The Welder would terrorize him no more. He looked at the time on his phone, the screen telling him that it was a quarter past eight. He placed both hands on his face and let them drag down while he sighed. He had to do this, he needed to sleep. Convinced that it was time, he turned over to the nightstand and turned off the light. With the room now pitch black, he turned on his side and wrapped himself with his blanket before closing his eyes.

The dream started as darkness first before an image manifested. As the image began to take shape, the dream starts in the viewpoint of someone…or something, like looking out of the eyes of someone or through the lens of a camera. The figure is looking down at the ground, right at its feet, or rather its boots, which stood on the grass that was covered in leaves. The figure tilts its head up in a forward-facing position. In its sights is a woman wearing walking clothes along with a jacket and beanie with her dog standing on a concrete path under a yellow lamp like they are at a park. The woman moved her head around as if she was looking for someone. The little dog moved its tiny head around and spun its body as if it was sensing something. The figure then began to move closer to the woman and her dog, taking a few steps forward when the woman suddenly turned her head, staring right at the figure. The figure stopped moving as it watched the woman walk backward, putting a hand into her pocket like she was reaching for something. Just as she pulled out her hand, the dogged jumped towards the figure which pulled the woman forward and she dropped what was in her hand. In a flash, the woman pulled the leash of the dog and bent down to scoop up the small canine before making a complete 180* and running away from the figure. Everything goes to black for a split second before the image changed. This time, the figure is staring at an empty parking lot with yellow lights keeping it lit. Standing in the middle of said lot is the woman now clutching her dog and moving her head in all directions. The figure walked again towards the woman before stopping once more. The woman’s head turned to the figure, her eyes widened, and on the verge of tears. She held onto her dog tightly before bolting across the parking lot and crossing the street next to it and running to a house closest to the road. She’s on the porch of the house, banging on the door. Everything goes to black.

Kyle woke up to the sound of his alarm blaring to his right. He reached his arm towards it to shut it off. He starred off at the ceiling before realizing that he had just slept through an entire night without waking up. Suddenly, his eyes widened as rises to a sitting position on his bed. He went through an entire night without getting up. He quickly turned his head to the bedside table and reached for the little bear figurine. Turning it around in his hands, he stared at it perplexed and a bit confused. Did this thing really work? This was the first time in a while he got a decent night’s sleep without the Welder chasing tormenting him in his dreams. Speaking of which, he placed the bear back onto the table as he recalled last night’s dream which he had most peculiar as it had involved his English teacher, Ms. Angela.

“That’s a bit, weird dude…” Jake stared at Kyle with a questioning face. The two boys and Lily are standing at their bus stop waiting for their ride to school as Kyle told them about last night’s dream. “Do you like… have a thing for her?”

“What!” Kyle’s eyes widened at such a suggestion, “Ew, no! Never!”

“Then why the heck would you dream about her?” Jake and Lily starred at Kyle waiting for his response. “I don’t know, that’s what I’m still trying to figure out.”

“Wait, what about the Welder?” Lily was curious since Kyle hadn’t mentioned him in his story.

“Now that’s the thing…I didn’t see him this time” Jake and Lily were surprised to hear that.

“Well did you at least get any sleep?” Lily asked as she noticed that he didn’t look sleep-deprived this morning.

“Actually, I did” Kyle had a smile on his face as he replied to her. Now that he thought about it, he realized that this was the first time he had any decent sleep these past few nights. He felt giddy inside as he wondered if the Welder would stop terrorizing him now.

“Yeah, probably because he was dreaming about Ms. Angela” Jake had a smug look on his face as Lily laughed away and she gave him a high five.

Kyle groaned in frustration as he knew that he was not gonna let this go.

The first two periods went without a hitch as Kyle didn’t need his friends to keep him up. In third period, Ms. Angela did not come in, and instead, there was a substitute teacher. The substitute teacher announced that Ms. Angela had an incident last night which resulted in her not being able to make it in today. This was a bit surprising as it was a very ambiguous explanation and not one that a student usually hears. Most of the time, when teachers are out without warning, the students are given either one of a few options; not feeling well, having/had an emergency, or tending to an emergency. Just being told that there was an “incident” raised a lot of eyebrows in the class.

At lunch, Kyle told Jake and Lily about Ms. Angela not being in class today, which they were aware of due to rumors being spread about it. On any given day, an absent teacher usually wouldn’t be that big of a deal, however, the whole lunch seemed to be buzzing about her. From what can be gathered, apparently, Ms. Angela had an incident at Haddon’s Grove Park last night involving a stranger chasing her down the park and having to seek refuge at a random person’s house. Jake and Lily stared at Kyle with concern as this sounded eerily similar to his dream from last night. The boy poked his food as he was unable to eat. This can’t be a coincidence. How is it possible that he had a dream about Ms. Angela being chased through a park while that actually happened in real life? He had to go to that park. He wasn’t exactly sure why, but he just knew that he needed to go.

Kyle, Lily, and Jake got off their bus stop on Helm Street and made their way to Haddon Grove Park. Kyle let his mom know that he was going to be at the park for a little, which she said was fine, especially since Phil was going to be at the apartment for a bit before heading out. After walking for a few minutes, they made a right down West Crystal Lane, then shortly made a left down Woods Burrow Street. Finally, the three stood on the corner of Woods Burrow Street and Forrest Green Avenue. They were on the opposite street from the house that Ms. Angela was seen coming out of. The three then walked across the Avenue and into the park where the incident happened. Kyle himself had been to the park before, especially when he was a child, but not so much nowadays. Yet somehow, he felt like he had just been here recently.

Kyle led the way down the path of the park recalling what he saw from the dream. It felt so weird walking there like he was a hunter going back to his hunting grounds. He stopped at a certain part of the path and turned his head left to a parking lot which he made his way towards. Despite being filled with cars now, he was able to recall it as the one he saw from his dream. Finally, he looked across the street, on the corner of Woods Burrow Street and Forrest Green Avenue was the house that took in Ms. Angela at the end of his dream. He had an uneasy feeling about this. He thought to himself, This has to be a coincidence, there is no way these two things could be connected. Just as he felt that his mind was about scramble, he heard the sound of a bike bell which snapped him out of his trance.

On the bike was one of those police officers who use a bike to get around. This was odd to the three as they had never seen a police biker in the park. The officer explains that they are there due to last night’s incident and is out on patrol. The officer asks the kids if they heard about last night’s incident in which they respond that they had. Nodding her head, the officer reaches into a bag on the side of her bike and pulls out a paper, and hands it to Kyle which she explains is the description of the person that chased the victim from last night. After telling them to keep an eye out for anything and to stay out of trouble, the officer waved the three off and went off on her way. Kyle looked down at the paper in his hands and adjusted it so that it can be read. Jake and Lily flanked his left and right side so that they too can read the paper. Police are on the lookout for an individual a little over 6.5+ feet wearing a brown apron, large black boots, brown gloves, and a yellow hood with a window similar to that of a welding helmet and wearing broken chain shackles on both the wrist and ankles.

Jake’s eyes widened while Lily put her hand over her mouth and Kyle felt like his heart dropped.

This is the exact description of the Welder.

The three kids are now sitting on one of the benches near the sidewalk of the park with Kyle sitting between his two friends as he held onto the paper. He didn’t know what to feel about this. He stayed silent as he stared at the ground, ignoring his friends as they tried to come up with an explanation for this. His head felt buzzed like he got up too quickly. He felt his teeth starting to clench as a headache began to brew in his clouded mind. The confused boy got up from the bench, which silenced his two friends as they asked him if he was ok. Kyle turned towards them, still clutching the paper and telling them that he needed to go, alone. Jake tried to protest and suggest that they all go together, but Lily stopped him from finishing and told Kyle to text them if anything. He nodded to his two friends before turning around and heading out of the park.

Kyle was left only with his thoughts as he walked down West Newton Rd. His mind was scrambled from the discovery that he and his friends just made and needed time to himself to think about this. He figured that someone must be playing a prank, but why the Welder? And most importantly, how? He told no one but his friends about it. What if they told someone? If that were the case, why would they go through the trouble and try to bring it to life? Nothing was adding up.

It’s a little past four when Kyle finally made it back to the apartment complex, where he also saw his mom’s car parked in the parking lot, indicating that she was home. He wasn’t sure whether or not to tell his mom. She might just tell him that it must be someone playing a cruel prank or something and shrug it off without a second thought. This whole situation is just too confusing for Kyle to explain. He got to the door and pulled out his keys. He hoped that Phil wasn’t there, he didn’t want to see him, especially if he was drinking. Walking inside, he was greeted by the sight of his mom sitting at the dining room table, her eyes red and filled with tears. Kyle asked what was wrong, only to be told that Phil had left for good but at the price of his mom’s entire savings.

Kyle wished he can do something. As he lied on his bed, he pondered on how to get back at Phil. What was a middle schooler supposed to do? His mom wasn’t exactly sure either. She had called the police to inform them, but all they could do was wait at this point. His mom tried calling the bank, but he himself is unsure if they can recover the savings. Only time will tell. Except Kyle didn’t want to have to rely on time. He wanted Phil to pay for destroying their life, with a permanent ending. His head felt like it was spinning at this point due to so many things happening all within one day. First, the mysterious case of his dream and Ms. Angela and now his mom got robbed by Phil? All he wanted now was to just sleep and hope that everything would be settled as soon as possible. He turned to his side to stare at the bear on his bedside table for a second before reaching to turn off the lamp, plunging his room into darkness.

A new dream manifests tonight. It’s in the viewpoint of the figure again. It’s standing at the edge of a parking lot, starring over the rows of mostly darkened cars at a bar. The neon sign glows in the night as people go in and out, entering sober and exiting drunk. The figure focuses its sights on one particular person coming out of the bar. A man in his 40’s with a balding head and grayish hair on the side wearing clothes with food and alcohol stains sluggishly walking onto the parking lot. It’s unsure why this particular person is of interest, but for some reason he just is. The figure watches the man enter a truck and then aggressively drive off out of the parking lot. The view turns to black before manifesting once more, this time in the middle of a two-lane road. There is one car coming down the road, the headlights guiding the vehicle through the night. The light then quickly makes it to the figure and quickly climbs up before engulfing its view in light. Then, just as fast as it appeared, the light was quickly extinguished. The figure turned to the left, where before it is a truck that had gone off the road and rolled down a ditch, and crashed into a tree. The figured view quickly shifts to the driver’s side of the crashed vehicle and sees’s the man from the bar dazedly holding his head with some blood trickling down. A gloved hand with a shackle on its wrists extends from the figure, reaching for the door of the car and ripping it off its hinges. The figure is still focused on the dazed man as the door is thrown off to the side. The man finally turned to his left to see what had happened. The sluggish eyes immediately open wide towards the figure as the gloved hand reaches and grabs the man by the shirt, turns around, and throws him out away from the damaged truck. The figure walks towards the man as he slowly struggles to crawl and get up. The figure reaches down with both gloved hands and flips the man over before grabbing him from his shirt and lifting him, his face now being the prominent view of the figure. The man opened his mouth like he was screaming, yet no sound came out. His head and body shook as he tried to break from the hold, yet he remained held. He continued to squirm, shake and struggle before everything faded to black.

Kyle shot up to a sitting position on his bed as his alarm rang on the bedside table. He quickly reached to it to turn it off so that he could concentrate and make sense of what he just dreamt about. Why in the world did he have a dream about Phil?

Shaking his head decided not to think about it. He went out from his room and to the kitchen where he saw his mom just getting off the phone. After asking who it was, she went up to her son and gestured him to the couch where the two sat down. She breathed a heavy sigh and told him that it was the police who had called to tell her that Phil was found dead.

Kyle walked down the halls of his school making his way from second to third period. He hadn’t told his friends about last night’s dream and doesn’t feel like he should. How can he tell someone that he had dreamt about another person’s death? He certainly couldn’t tell his mom either, she wouldn’t believe him. Heck, he can’t even believe it himself. He had asked his mom where they found him, and she replied that it was off the side of a road. Apparently, it was a case of drunk driving. But Kyle knew there was more to that. There has to be a connection between his dreams, the Welder, and the incidents with Ms. Angela and Phil. No, not dreams. They were more like he was watching the events unfold in first-person view through the eyes of another when he slept. But if he was sleeping, then who was carrying out these incidents? Then he remembered the description of the perpetrator that the officer from the other day had given him. He made it to his locker and turned the dial of the lock. As the dial clicked, so to did something in his head. Suddenly, he got goosebumps as he had a realization… what if the figure that he was looking through, was the Welder?

He closed the locker door after switching out the books from his second period to the next. He walked to his class, lost in the thoughts of his head, ignoring everything that was happening around him. It sounded like nonsense, but these last two nights couldn’t be more clearer. What else would explain the connection between the dreams and the incidents? The Welder hadn’t terrorized Kyle in these past nights, Ms. Angela had given a description of him, and Kyle could have sworn that the attire that the figure he was seeing through looked just like the clothes of the dreaded being.

Kyle was suddenly snapped out of his trance as he felt something hit his right leg and he fell forward dropping his books and landing on his side. He then heard the sound of laughter as he saw Derrick and his posse looking and laughing at him. Dazed and confused, he began to get a hold of his thoughts as began collecting his stuff on the ground. As he did, his body suddenly felt lighter like a weight was lifted off of him as his head began to clear up. All his previous thoughts subsided as he had a moment of realization like someone had given him an excellent idea. His head had finally felt clear and at ease as this one idea became the only thing to occupy his mind. He stood up from collecting his things and began to walk off from the laugher behind him. Derrick and his coons couldn’t see it, but a smile had slowly spread across Kyle’s face. He knew what he can do to get back at them. Not now, or at school, but when he goes to sleep. They can keep laughing, since it will be their last, for tonight, the Welder will come to get them.