Horrible dream

Emily knew her nanny would surely come looking for her, and this bothered her a lot.

She looked around for an empty room and snuggled into it. The room looked clean, but there was a faint scent of dust lingering in the air. No one would be able to tell she was there.

The room had belonged to her mother when she was still alive, and no one came here. The maids occasionally came in just to clean it.

Emily walked towards the bed and lay down. It had been a long time since she had visited this room.

Her life revolved around finding peace, but with this new development, her life was about to take a drastic turn.

She didn’t even know how things would turn out. “Mum, I know you’re listening to me, and you can hear every one of my cries. Why do I have to be the one to suffer for your death??!!”

No words could express her sorrow. She just lay there, staring into the empty air.

The Dream

“Hello, is anybody there?” Emily called out. The floor she lay on felt cold, and the whole room felt cozy.

It wasn’t just a room; it was more like a large hall with no visible end. She sat there, scared to move, fearing she might end up in a more horrible place. “Hello??” (echo x3).

But no one answered. She tried standing up, but her legs were glued to the cold floor. The more she tried, the heavier her legs became.

The room was dark, except for a tiny light at the far end of the hall, growing larger by the minute.

Suddenly, a large shadow fell over her. At the end of the hall, she heard a loud growl from a beast that seemed angry—or so she thought. The beast started walking toward her, its heavy footsteps echoing.

“Hello, who is that?”

Emily’s fear grew by the minute as she looked left and right, trying to get off the floor. But as the minutes passed, the beast grew closer, and it grew larger and larger.

Her heart pounded, and she began to shiver at the sight. “Please don’t kill me!”

The beast extended its long hand toward her, making her scream loudly as she suddenly woke up from her horrible dream.

End of the Dream

She looked around and realized she wasn’t in her room but still in her mother’s room. It seemed to be the early hours of the next day.

She helped herself up and made her way out of the room, heading to her own.

The maids glanced at her funnily and murmured amongst themselves, making her feel awkward.

As she reached her room, her nanny jumped up and ran toward her. “Where have you been? We’ve been looking for you since yesterday!”

Confused, Emily’s face went sour. “Looking for me? Have you been in my mother’s room? Sorry, did you just say yesterday?”

Emily couldn’t believe it. She had been missing since yesterday, and no one had looked for her in her mother’s room.

All they could assume was that she had run away from home. But where exactly would she have gone?

Emily rolled her eyes and walked toward the washroom to clean up. She was always late for breakfast, and she couldn’t cancel it since everyone must have heard she was “back from the dead,” according to their foolish gossip.

It was even more annoying. She changed into a short, floral-printed cotton gown with spaghetti straps. The gown wasn’t revealing since she had a small chest, so it covered everything.

She made her way to the dining hall but wasn’t warmly welcomed as usual.

“And she decided to show up. Isn’t that amazing?” her stepsister said to her stepbrother as they both laughed at her.

“Will you two quit being childish and eat your meal?” their mother interjected. “Oh, my child, we’ve been looking for you everywhere. Where have you been?”

Everyone who knew her stepmother would know she was being sarcastic. She never really cared whether Emily left home or not.

Her stepmother was a strong advocate for marrying her off to a stranger. Emily wouldn’t be surprised if she had suggested such a thing from the beginning.

“I slept off in my mother’s room. I didn’t know it was that late and came out immediately after I woke up.”

She could hear her step-siblings whispering. “What was she doing in that dead woman’s room?” her stepsister asked.

“Probably talking to ghosts. So weird!” her stepbrother responded in disgust.

Emily couldn’t take it anymore. She snapped back at them, “My mother is not dead!”

Everyone was shocked that she spoke back to her siblings. Her father was furious, banging his hand on the dining table as he asserted, “Your mother is dead and forgotten. We’ve moved on, and you need to wake up and move on too. Maybe then you’ll be able to put your life together before your marriage. She’s dead!”

Tears rolled down Emily’s cheeks. She couldn’t believe her father was this cruel and harsh, speaking so coldly about his once-loving wife.

“No, Dad, to me she isn’t dead. Her room is the only place I feel safe!”

Emily stood up to her father, who then slammed a glass off the table. “Your mother is dead, dead, DEAD! Do you want to know why she died?”

Emily braced herself, knowing what was coming. She could barely stand the accusation that she was responsible for her mother’s death when she had come into this world innocently.

She turned and ran, but her father’s voice echoed through the corridors, even though her stepmother tried to calm him down.

“You killed her!” Emily’s father roared.

“Come on, dear, that’s too harsh for your daughter. Please calm down,” her stepmother pleaded.

But he replied, “No, I won’t! She killed my wife and wants to kill me too. I won’t allow it. She’d better be out of this house within a month.” It sounded more like a threat to the poor girl.

Emily was back in her room. She hadn’t eaten since yesterday, and her eyes were heavy from crying. She needed peace, but things were only getting worse for her. The only shoulder she could cry on was her nanny’s, who would be there for her when she left for her new husband’s house.