Ben's Nightmare

The desert was limitless; the skyline seemed to extend forever. It was scourging hot, sweat dripped drop by drop to the ground. A large man was standing in the distance, he was holding a blood coated rapier, and the ground around him was covered in blood. A young boy lay beheaded on the ground, motionless.

Ben awoke suddenly, he was covered in sweat. He had kicked his duvet off during his sleep. It must have been a nightmare he thought, he was sure he had been the one beheaded, he just knew it. Ben sighed with relief, picked up his duvet, through it over himself, and went back to sleep.

The next day the nightmare was but a distance memory. Ben was sitting within his History class staring at the clock, class was so boring, and he just wanted it to end quickly but it felt to him that he had been sitting there for hours. 15 minutes later that felt like an eternity, the bell rang. Finally thought Ben as he packed up his books, and made his way to the Cafeteria with his mates. They were eagerly discussing the new Age of Empires III that was to be released the next day; they had been anticipating it for months.

Suddenly Ben felt a stabbing pain in his stomach and fell to the ground in pain. His hand was on his stomach, clutching it tightly. Something felt wet but there was no way Ben could be wet. He hadn’t touched anything or been near any liquid. Ben looked down, and he was shocked at what he saw. His hand was covered in what appeared to be a red liquid, blood. Warm and plentiful blood. A moment passed, and Ben fainted.

His friends were bewildered at what they saw. Ben had seemingly fell over, and fainted. The blood seemed to have erupted from no where. Nothing suggested the cause of Ben’s injury. Absolutely nothing. They called 0-0-0, and waited till the ambulance arrived. They were worried sick.

The ambulance arrived, and Ben was promptly placed on to a stretcher, and in to the back of the Ambulance. Ben’s friends were allowed to ride in the back, it was clear from there expressions how worried they were. The paramedics seemed to understand.

As the Ambulance began to speed away to the hospital, no one noticed the suspicious hooded figure watching from across the street.

Just over 30 minutes later, Ben was in the operating theater. His friends were waiting patiently outside, they had not been allowed in with him. One of them were on the phone with Ben’s parents, they were on there way.

What must have been an hour passed, Ben’s parents had arrived, and just as they were thinking the worst, a doctor exited the operating theatre. An expression of relief was on her face. She gladly announced that the operation had been a success, and even though he had lost a lot of blood, by keeping his fluids up, Ben should be okay.

At this everyone’s faces turned to relief, some even wiped tears from there eyes. They were informed that Ben would be kept under observation for 24 hours but if everything remained okay, Ben would be able to go home the next day. After spending time with Ben during the evening, visiting hours were over and they all headed home.

That night as Ben lay down on uncomfortable pillows of the hospital bed, his mind drifted back to the dream he had had earlier today. Was it a coincidence? All of this? Surely it was…Right?

Eventually Ben drifted to sleep; his dreams were free of the mysterious man. At about 5 AM, Ben awoke to the sound of an Owl hooting. Startled, Ben glanced ahead. Nothing was there. As Ben drifted asleep, he saw what looked like a rather tall and dark person speed past him however before he could look he was fast asleep.