The Land of Nightmares Story

 Hey Everyone, 

Recently we have been writing a lot in my language arts class. Today I am going to share the prologue of my Land of Nightmares Story! Enjoy!

««  Prologue  »»

When I woke up, I was lying face up and a cold, solid surface. Above me were the tall, cavernous cliffs of Dream Valley. The surface I was lying on felt like concrete, but smoother. My hands slid across it very easily and it wasn’t rough to the touch. I slowly blinked a few times to wake up my eyes. It suddenly occurred to me that my head hurt. I reached up to feel it and when I pulled my hand away it was soaked with blood. I must have hit it on the drop down, I thought. I’ll just find a way out of here, get home and get my head attended to. As I moved to sit up, my head got heavy and yet, somehow still light-headed. I lay back down and I tried to remember how I got here, but my brain could only pull small details of falling down the rocky side of the cliff and then everything going dark. I tried sitting up to try to get the blood moving and away from my injury. After a little bit of that, I tried standing up and didn’t feel any immediate pain. I cautiously looked around my setting. The surface I had been lying on appeared to be a helicopter landing pad that had been smoothed out to have a texture sort of like glass. No wonder it was so cold, I thought to myself.

«« »»

 To my right, there was a small shed that looked incredibly worn. It was splintered and the once-brilliant red paint job was now dull and chipping. There was a window on one wall of the shed where a large piece of glass had shattered and the part that was still intact looked dirty and gross. There was mildew in the corners and it was covered in grease and grime. I reached out my finger to feel the substance and immediately regretted it - it was slimy and fuzzy at the same time. “Argh!” I exclaimed to myself. Moving on,  I thought. 

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There was a door on the opposite side of the shed that looked so tedious I thought I could give it a gentle shove and it would fall over and splinter into a million pieces. I didn’t really want to test it’s strength, though. There was also a door handle that was rusted and partly screwed off of the door - dangling precariously like a tooth a first grader might be just moments away from losing. Even though the scene looked abandoned, I used a leaf on a nearby tree to wipe some of the grime off of the window before peeking in. I could barely make out a shelf full of tools unlike any I had ever seen before. They were in odd shapes and sizes and I couldn’t make out a single hammer or wrench. On the opposite side there was a table that was missing a leg. It was propped up by dozens of books about rocket launching. On top of the table there was an assortment of metal pipes and shapes. There was a small sink next to the table that was growing mold near the spout and one handle had broken off. The bowl was dirty and there were black stains that looked similar to the color of tar. I decided the coast was clear and that someone probably had not visited this tiny, rundown shack in years. Maybe a decade.

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 As I walked around to the side of the shed where the door was located, I didn’t mess with the door handle. If someone came back to their shed, I didn’t want to be held responsible for breaking it, even if it needed repairing. I gently pushed the door, but it didn’t give way. Huh, I thought must not be as rickety as I thought. I pulled my sleeves down over my bare arms so that I wouldn’t get splinters. I pushed my shoulder up against the door and gave it a shove. It gave way and I nearly toppled over into the shed from the force of it. As I looked around the shed, I noticed things that I couldn’t see through the grime of the window pane - a broken lightbulb, a rickety wooden bench underneath the desk, and a pencil holder on the corner of the desk holding exactly one and a half pencils (one was broken in half) and a few scattered pencil shavings. The floor was covered in a thick layer of dust and in the center there was a threadbare, moth eaten rug in an incredibly unattractive orange color. There were black stains on it, too, looking all too similar to the ones in the sink. There was a stack of filing cabinets that were dented and rusted, but they were still locked, protecting the files inside. As I rummaged through the mess of unfamiliar tools, dust and pencil shavings looking for the key - I am somewhat of a snoop - my hand hit a large metal object that had been painted to look exactly like the wood behind it. It was an oblong case that held a few torn envelopes, a pen and a yellowing document. Upon closer inspection there was a smaller compartment hidden inside that my hand hadn’t felt while running it through the contents of the case. As I undid the latch, I heard a long, horrific roar off in the distance. I felt my heart skip a beat and my adrenaline kicked in. I had thought that I was alone due to the still silence around me, the abandoned aura surrounding the old shack and the stale quality of the air. 

I looked around for a hiding place, and eventually settled on a bush a few meters away. It was almost as tall as me and twice as wide. It would offer me plenty of elbow room if I had to hide there for a  longer period of time. Later I could find a better place to stay. As the monster emerged from the mountains in the distance, I was horrified. It was as tall as two elephants stacked on top of each other and it was covered in raggedy black fur that was patched together at odd angles and lengths. It’s face had the completion of a gorilla, but there was a large scar running over its eye. It had huge, long teeth and when it roared it sent a wave of saliva over a twenty - four foot radius. I couldn’t help but think that I had seen this monster before. That’s it! That’s how I recognize this gorilla! 

When I was really little, maybe four or five we went trick or treating for Halloween. I saw a kid dressed up as a gorilla across the street that had beady eyes. They kept leaping at me and yelling ‘Boo!’ from across the street to taunt me. Looking back, it was just a cheapy gorilla suit (probably from Party City), but I had nightmares of a giant gorilla chasing me for the rest of the year. One that had a scar over its eye and long, sharp bared teeth. 

I must have fallen into the Land of Nightmares! I thought. I had been told stories about this place. Where your nightmares come to life and you can’t escape - ever. I gotta find a way out - if there is a way in, there must be one out! There is NO way I am stuck here forever! And if THIS nightmare came true, there must be TONS more here! I’ve had MUCH worse nightmares as I’ve grown up. This can’t be happening!

Thanks for reading! Remember to stay happy healthy and keep living life random!

Love,

Naomi