A Peaceful Death

I woke up next to my wife of fifty years. Everything was dark and quiet and, for a moment, I felt calm. I looked around the room, feeling surprised that I was so calm that I didn't move my body.

Suddenly my heart dropped. There was a man in the corner of our room. I was certain it wasn't just a coat. I wasn't sure what to do. Pretend I was asleep? Wake my wife up and hold the bastard off while she ran to safety? No, best to stay still. He was watching us. There was no way to outrun him if we try now. I should let my wife stay ignorant and asleep.

He moved and my heart beat faster. He was coming right up to me, did he know I was awake? But out of the blue he was no longer a man. He contorted into a monster, towering over our bed, his entire self like a shawdow covering our ceiling. It was at this point that I realized that I couldn't move even if I wanted to. My body wouldn't budge. I tried to call out to my wife, but my voice didn't work. The only thing moving were my eyes and my rapid heart beat which grew faster by the second.

A tear fell out of my eye. I wasn't exactly crying, but my eyes were more wet than usual and a single tear escaped out the side. I was noticing things that didn't matter, anything to not focus on the thing above me. I could not hear our clock ticking or my wife's breathing. Was she already dead? No I must put that thought out of my mind.

Slowly, it slipped down from the ceiling and sat on my chest. It looked light, but was surprisingly heavy. I found it difficult to breathe and my heart was going wild. If I didn't die from lack of air, I would surely die of shock or a heart attack.

The monster grew heavier and even began to choke me. And yet, I still couldn't move to fight it off. Couldn't utter a sound of warning to my wife. And she was just sleeping there so peacefully. Was she next? I had to do something! But my body wouldn't listen. It choked harder. I knew I wasn't going to last much longer and accepted my fate. The world around me turned dark and, soon enough, no more of my thoughts lived. I was nothing.

I woke up this morning next to my husband of fifty years and he was dead. And even though I am sad, at least he passed away peacefully in his sleep.