The Recurring

     Sleep doesn't come easily. It presses upon my eyelids in fragile midnight hours then leaps back into darkness when I go to grasp. It comes slowly, trickling over my senses, lulling me into complacency, even as I know that once I succumb, I will be drawn into a place of tremendous terror. 

     My feet drag along scorched black earth, shadows curl around every corner. Shrill laughter echoes off familiar cavern walls and I wonder what nightmare awaits me this time. Door #1? My palm against it is hot. Not fire. Fire was last night. Door #2? I can hear the grinding of metal on metal. No, not tonight. Door #3 calls to me. A metallic twinge settles on my tongue. Why does my curiosity always lead me here? I open the door and step into the darkness.

     I hear cries in voices I love. I run to the sight. A car accident. Mangled flesh wrapped around gnarled steel. I find him. His hand reaches to me. His voice whispers my name. I can see the light in his eyes fading as blood drains from his body. "Don't," I whisper. "Stay." Warm liquid pools at the corners of my eyes as his close.

     "No!" I shout, and I wretched back into reality. He sits up, grabs my hands, laces his fingers through my hair. "The nightmare again?" He whispers, hot and thick in my ear. I lay my head against his shoulder and vow to resist sleep at all cost.