Night Terrors of Johnny Brown and Day of the Hot Rain

Johnny Brown shot straight up, like a rocket launching for take off. His entire face was drenched with moisture and his body was trembling in a cold sweat. Mary reached over and got a Kleenex from the bedside table and clicked on the lamp that was sitting next to the alarm clock that read four a.m. His eyes were red as fire. His heart was beating so sporadically, as if to leap out of his chest.

"What is it? What’s the matter?" yelled Mary out of sheer terror. "Johnny, what’s wrong?" For a minute or two, Johnny looked like he was coming out of a hypnotic trance. He was saying repeatedly, "Don’t let him get me!" With a concerned look on her face, Mary responded, "Don’t let who get you, honey?" "What are you talking about?" In a fearful voice, Johnny says, "Oh Lord! What a nightmare!" "But it all seemed so real." While Mary wiped the heavy perspiration from his forehead with the Kleenex, Johnny began to tell her his dream.

"I was walking down Chestnut Street; you know Mary, about a block from here." "The street was quiet and dark when all of a sudden, I felt like someone was following me." "I then heard a voice calling out my name, "Johnny, Johnny come to me, and I will take you to paradise."

"I looked around to see where the voice was coming, and I saw this man dressed in black, with a black hat pulled down over his face." "At first, I tried to scream, but I was so terrified that I couldn’t even open my mouth." "With outstretched arms, he began to call my name over and over again saying, "Johnny, Johnny come to me and I’ll take you to paradise. All of a sudden, I found the strength to scream, and that’s when you woke me up."

In a consoling voice, Mary says, "You were just having a nightmare honey. Try to forget it and go back to sleep." Johnny lay back down, saying to himself, "It all seemed so very real."

Later that morning, at seven a.m., Mary is in the kitchen cooking breakfast and Johnny’s getting out of bed, heading towards the bathroom for his morning shower. Once in the shower, he realized he didn’t have a bath towel. He yelled out to Mary, "Honey, will you please bring me a bath towel?" Mary didn’t hear him because of the running water from the showerhead.

A few moments later, a white bath towel was placed over the shower rod. Johnny gets the bath tower, dries off, and starts to get dressed. Mary calls out to him, "Johnny, hurry up, your breakfast is getting cold!"

Hearing Mary calling out to him, Johnny says, "I’ll be there in a minute, honey. And thanks for bringing me the towel." Mary whispers to herself, with a puzzled look on her face, "Towel, what towel? What in the world is he talking about?"

While Johnny was dressing in front of the bedroom mirror, he began to see an image of the man in his dream. With terror on his face, Johnny froze and dropped his head. After a few moments, he began to raise his head slowly, and took another look at the mirror and saw his own image. Johnny grabs his briefcase by the bedroom door, rushes into the kitchen and says, "My how time flies. I didn’t know that it was this late." "I’m due at the office in exactly fifteen minutes." Mary looks at Johnny. "What were you saying to me about handing you a towel?" she asks. Johnny smiles and says, "Oh yeah, thanks for handing me that bath towel." Mary replies, "I didn’t hand you any towel. I’ve been in the kitchen slaving over this hot stove cooking your breakfast; which now you say that you don’t have time to eat!" "What took you so long?" Johnny says, "Wait a minute." With a curious look on his face, "You did give me that towel. It didn’t just appear out of thin air. Or did it?" Abruptly changing the subject, Mary says, "Well, anyway, I read in this morning’s paper about some people living on Chestnut Street hearing some loud screams right about the same time that you were having your nightmares." "Could it have been you?" she says jokingly. "Now don’t be funny!" says Johnny. "I’m in a big hurry." He kisses her on her forehead, and rushes out of the door.

While clearing away the breakfast dishes, Mary was interrupted by the doorbell ringing. It was her best friend, Alice. "Are you ready to go shopping, Mary?" asks Alice. "In a few minutes." says Mary. "Let me dry my hands, and then we can go."

While driving to the grocery store, Alice mentions the screams she’s heard on her street, Chestnut Street. She says, "You know Mary, it’s the strangest thing. About four a.m. this morning, I heard some loud screams." "I jumped up and ran to look our of my bedroom window, and I didn’t see anybody except my neighbors, looking out of their windows, too." "It sounded like someone was being tortured. What do you think about that?" With a look of deja vous on her face, Mary says, "Johnny woke up screaming about the same time this morning. Now tell me, Alice, what do you think about that?" The both look at each other in sheer amazement. Alice, while shaking her head, says, "Wow! What a coincidence."

It’s four a.m. Mary and Johnny are asleep. The bedroom is totally dark, except for the green-lit dial on the alarm clock, sitting on the bedside table.

"AHHH!" Johnny screams sitting straight up in the bed. Mary, awakened by his screams, quickly clicks on the bedside lamp and says, "What is it now, Johnny?" "Did you have another nightmare?" Johnny, with an exasperating look on his face, says, "Mary, I don’t believe it. It’s the same dream! The very same dream I had last night!" "What can you make of that?" Mary was concerned. "I can’t explain it. This is beyond me. I don’t know what to say." Johnny continues, "The dream was just like the one I had last night." "A man dressed in black, with a hat pulled down over his face, with outstretched arms, repeating those frightening words, "come to me, come to me Johnny and I’ll take you to paradise." "Am I going crazy, Mary, or what?" "What does it all mean?"