I Still Cry

This story is about a frightened girl named Willa who is unsure of what is going on in her life. She asks questions, such as, “What is happening?” and “Why am I here?” As you read her story, perhaps you can figure it out. It is three o’clock in the morning, and Willa wakes up in a cold sweat. She’s scared to death from one of the frequent nightmares that have haunted her since she was a very young child. “Why am I having these horrible nightmares? Why am I so terrified when I wake up?” she asks herself, knowing they are only dreams. They are not consistent with one another. There are more obstacles and other things added to them each time she has one. She doesn’t understand what is going on in her head, and no one else seems to have an answer for her.

The bed she is lying on starts spinning around and around, going faster and faster. What is going on? Her first thought was to get out of bed. Her eyes fly open. She sees the walls, and the furniture, but now they’re a blur. What is going on? She starts to lose control. All she can do is hang on and hope that she won’t fly off and hit a wall. She tries to grab for something to hang onto, but there is nothing. “What happened to the sheets?” Thoughts are reeling in her head.

“They were here not more than a minute ago, when I got into bed.”

A minute ago she wasn’t spinning either. Her heart is beating very rapidly and she feels as though it will beat right out of her chest. She is terrified; scared that she is going to fall off. Now she’s sliding from the bed, which has turned into a large, flat, spinning table. As the table spins, it is also rising up to the ceiling. Will it crush her? Or will she slide off? Which will it be? Which would she rather have? Thoughts are reeling through her brain.

“I don’t know!” she cries. “I don’t even know how I got here.”

There is someone standing beside the table—a man whom she has never seen before. He is staring at her; waiting to grab her as soon as she flies off the table. He wants to take her soul. Somehow she knows what he wants. “How do I know this?” she thinks. “How do I know what this man wants? Have I been here before?” She knows he cannot touch or hurt her while she is on the table, so he keeps pushing and spinning it faster and faster, because there is nothing for her to hold onto. When this all started, she remembers being bound by leather straps, but now they are gone; they just disappeared. With every turn of the wheel, her heart beats faster. She can feel the adrenaline rushing throughout her body, as the heat of her blood intensifies. She can hear the beating in her ears, and sees it pulsating in her chest. Her mouth is dry, and her throat is itchy; making it hard for her to yell for help. As she tries to yell, she starts to choke. All she can do is cry, hoping this will end. She is getting dizzy. Her stomach is now upset and making her nauseated.

“If the spinning doesn’t stop soon, I am going to puke!” she screams.