Waking Up From A 5 Year Dream Novels & Stories

I let myself breathe. Not the Lachlans. Not the Black Wood. Not Marcus. Just sleep. And I dreamed. I was five years old, sitting in the diner. My small hands stacked sugar packets into towers. “Hailey Maria Vale!” My mom’s voice was bright and teasing. She was smiling at me from the end of the booth. “Only worth it if I can get to five stories,” I told her, grinning. Then I woke up. Sunlight streamed through the windows. I rolled over. The bed beside me was empty.

On the fifth night, I couldn’t sleep. The ceiling fan spun useless circles. My skin felt too hot under the thin sheet. I kept replaying the bedroom scene in flashes….Kieran’s hips rolling, Maria’s moan, the wet sound of them together but the memory had started to warp. It hurt less, It made me angry instead. I opened my phone. Me: You awake? His reply came in under a minute. Tony: Yeah. What’s up? Me: Can’t sleep. Mind won’t shut off.

I closed my eyes, opened them, and closed them again. It was still just a dream. I sat there for a long time before I laid back down. But sleep didn't come. When the alarm went off I was already half awake. I showered slowly, letting the water run hot until the last of the dream washed off with it. I have been having this dream for five months. I tried everything: the internet, my therapy, some random people I met… everything they asked me to do, but nothing worked. And each day, the dream only grew more vivid. Sometimes it comes to torture my consciousness.

They looked fine but worry was etched in their haggard faces. "Ma, Pa..." I managed to call out to them as I slowly walked over to them. My voice shook as I called out to them. Trying to stop my knees from trembling, I ran over and embraced my parents. I inhaled their scents which I haven't smelled in so long. They smiled and it made me miss them even more. It's been five years since we've seen each other. I feel like I'm dreaming, like I've seen something I can only dream about finally coming true. Am I just imagining them? Is this a dream caused by my stress?

Present I woke up from a weird dream, again. I shake my head and started looking for my glasses. Damn, where did I toss it last night? My eyes are kinda heavy I slept for only five hours after my evening shift as a cashier in a grocery store nearby our home. I can't believe I'm dreaming that weird stuff, it has been so long since I had that dream again or maybe I am just so tired of both physical and mental torture. My energy is draining so fast with just small nuisances on an everyday basis and I'm kinda hating it.

*Content Warning* Five Years Later Viviane’s POV I wake on a pillow littered with pearls. I’ve been crying in my sleep again, subconsciously battling the demons that always appear in the unguarded realms of slumber. I whip the blankets from my body, sending gems flying, and slide out of bed. My own screams echo in my ears as I move swiftly toward the bathroom. I’m completely alert, drowning in adrenaline. I feel exactly as I did five years ago, the dream sent my brain into full flight mode but left my body unable to flee.

Tears streamed down her cheeks. Byur! Danial saw Arabella jump off the cliff into the ocean. "Danial!" All of her friends swarmed around Danial's unconscious body, which had collapsed to the ground. Huft... Danial woke up with his body full of sweat. He looked around to see where he was in his room. He exhaled roughly while angrily rubbing his face. Five years had passed, and the dream continued to haunt him. For five years, Danial never slept well; pain, anger, anxiety, and deep longing always haunted him. He can fall asleep with the help of sleeping pills; at least he won't become a zombie like five years ago, when for one month he didn't sleep at all.

“You were having a nightmare, Hailey. You were screaming in your sleep. Shivering, sweating. It took me 5 minutes to wake you up. What was happening?” “What? 5 minutes?” I asked her again because this has never happened before. I would wake up within seconds whenever I had a nightmare and someone woke me up. “I..I don’t know, Eve. I’m sorry, I woke you up.” “It’s alright. But are you sure you’re okay?” I turn my face to her and smile weakly. “Don’t worry, Eve. I’m fine. We should get back to sleep. It’s late.” “Alright. Let me know if something else happens, okay?”

She jerked up, sweating. Amidst her dreams, she had dreamt of that night five years ago and she almost caught the face of the man but it had become blurred and elusive and even now that she was awake, she felt her heart pounding. She was sure she almost saw his face. She had to so that she could at least know how to describe him.

Present My breath caught in my throat, like I had just drowned, and finally reached the surface. The yellow light from the bed lamp slapped me back into reality. My spacious room—the messy gray sheets, the AC running, and the cold air piercing my sweat-soaked skin. I hugged my chest, trying to soothe the rumbling that felt like it was hollowing out my ribs. That dream again. The same dream. That night, Dylan had blood on his neck. I covered my face with both hands, but that didn't erase it. The images still lingered in my mind's eye. Five years had passed, and this dream still crushed me every night, bringing me back to when everything stopped.