I sat up in bed, gasping for air which eluded me for quite some time before I was finally able to breathe again. Sweat soaked my forehead and pillow as I struggled to come to grips what had just happened.

I knew all too well what events recently transpired. It was something that was familiar now. Visions in the night interrupting the middle of a peaceful slumber. The terrifying memory of endless night terrors introducing an equally terrifying creature which had plagued my dreams as a child.

It was a nightmare which consisted of a beast entering my room after the sun had set. I could remember clearly the gurgles and snarls which emitted from within the throat of the thing. I would always hear the sound of footsteps as it methodically made its way down the hallway. Then, it would reach my bedroom door.

At that point in the nightmare, I would bury my head under my pillow right before the menacing creature entered my room. The thing would slide itself onto the dresser directly adjacent to the bed and watch me. I never saw the thing within the nightmare, but I always felt its ever-present glare peering into my back. The dream would end with me dozing off again, to which I would wake up in the morning in a pool of my own sweat, shivering in fear.

Despite being much older, I was still just as frightened of the monster as I had been when I was much younger. Thus, when I heard the footsteps trudging down the hall and towards my room, in a house where I was the sole occupant, I buried my head into my pillow as I always would. I shivered under the covers as I listened to the bedroom door creak open. I trembled as I heard something mount my dresser, wincing as I heard a deep yet faint groan coming from the direction of the nightmarish creature.

I could hear the gurgles and scratchy voice penetrating my ears, causing me physical discomfort. All the memories of nightly torment from my childhood came rushing back to me, and they affected me so strongly that I almost felt as if I were going to cry. What was probably a few minutes of waiting felt like an eternity to me before I heard the thing exit the room.

There I sat, sweating in bed as the morning light seeped through the curtains. I quickly shook my head and stood up, stretching and yawning. My fatigue was apparent in the forms of bags underneath my eyes. I opened the door and trudged to the bathroom, needing to urinate. I finished and approached the sink, where I washed my hands and dried them on the towel that sat beside me. It was when I looked down, however, that something caught my eye.

An orange tablet container stood on the sink, unopened. I picked it up and twisted the bottle open, grimacing as I remembered my trip to the pharmacy earlier the other day. I had stopped there to pick up my insomnia medication. Insomnia caused by years of torment caused by my worst nightmare. The medicine bottle was completely full and untouched, for I had forgotten to take it the night prior.

I didn't sleep a wink the following night.