In the darkness of the chamber, the form restlessly tossed and turned underneath the thin bed sheets. Its eyelids flickered as a stream of images shot past, their mere sight terror. It was without question that these were not pleasant dreams, but rather nightmares that lurked at the edge of his vision during the day, only to descend upon him while he slept. The human fought relentlessly against the nightmares, not knowing that they were merely figments of his own imagination.

Deep inside his head, the human ran as fast as his tired legs could carry him, away from the burning house that had taken the rest of his family and all that he cared for. Nothing mattered more than getting as far away as possible from the horrific scene, and he did not slow at all.

Sweat beaded on the sleeping forms brow, and his muscles frantically clenched and released, sliding his bed sheets from atop him. The cool night air brushed against his body, cooling the fiery heat that rolled off of his panicked form.

Back in the dream, he wept and screamed at the same time in utter desperation and sadness at all that he would never see again. He ran blindly ahead not carry in the slightest about what lay in his path.

Suddenly, fires sprang up around him, singing his flesh and burning his very soul, reaching out to claim him as it had everything else that he loved. He collapsed on his knees, as he felt his life departing.

His eyelids shot open, and he gasped in the cool night air, wrenching himself from the merciless dream. “It was just a dream. It was just a dream,” he mumbled to himself, trying to make his mind believe the words.

Finally, after he could not stand lying in bed any longer, he sat up and stared out into the darkness of his room. Carefully getting to his feet, he reached down to pick up the fallen bed sheets, and began neatly setting them on the bed once more.