Dreams, Memories, and Nightmares

Louise was sitting alone at night. She couldn't sleep thanks to the nightmares of the night. She knew those were memories, but some memories she wished she could forget. She dreamt or remembered, a horrid day when she was 7 years old. A criminal had been caught, and was to be hanged, in the middle of town. Usually, her parents always took her inside and didn't let her or her sister leave until it was over and the body was taken care of. But there had been no warning. She was walking home when a huge crowd blocked her way. She had tried to fight her way through it, but she was pushed to the front, where the doomed man stood on the platform. Before she could blink, the lever was pulled and the man fell. But he didn't die immediately. The rope didn't go all the way through, so he was hanging there with his head half-off. His eyes stared right into Louise's terror and pain coursing through them. Louise had woken up and hadn't been able to go back to sleep. What she really wanted was a hug, but all her friends were asleep, So she sat down, wishing that she only received the good memories, but that wasn't how the spell worked. So there she sat in the dark, with no one and nothing but the stars for comfort.