Nightmares

The sound of a bell, somewhere far away. A strange sounding bell, more like an electronic ringing sound.
Fight off the mists of sleep and sit up. The bell rings again. Swing your legs over the side of the bed and soundlessly walk across the carpet, out into the hallway and towards the front door. Look through the peephole. Like you were taught from the time you were little. You never know who could be standing outside.
Two dressed in black, their long black hair like ebony. The white of their eerie smiles in strange contrast to the darkness of their deep, piercing eyes. Between them is a crib. A black baby’s crib with white lace edging.
Your heart constricts. Don’t open the door. Stop looking. Go back to bed.
On shaky legs, you turn and start to walk towards your bedroom.

The sound of a bell, somewhere far away. As you recognize it to be the doorbell, you sit up and rub the mists of sleep out of your eyes. What a strange dream you just had.
You swing your legs over the side of the bed and walk soundlessly across the soft carpet, out into the hallway and towards the front door. Stand up on your toes so you can look through the peephole before opening the door.
Two dressed in black, their long black hair like ebony. The white of their eerie smiles in strange contrast to the darkness of their deep, piercing eyes. Between them is a crib. A black baby’s crib with white lace edging.
A cold knot forms in the pit of your stomach, and with a gasp you turn away from the door and run towards your bedroom.

You wake with a twitch and look around you. Safe in your warm, comfortable bed, but on your skin lies an unnatural chill. The bedroom you love relaxing in suddenly feels unwelcoming, a shadow of doom looms in every corner. You get out of bed and move into the living room, where the soft early morning light streams in through the large windows. 

The sound of a bell, somewhere far away. Through your restless sleep, you recognize it as the doorbell. You swing your legs over the side of the sofa and leave the living room, heading towards the front door. You put your palm against the door as you go up on your toes to look out through the peephole.
Two dressed in black, their long black hair like ebony. The white of their eerie smiles in strange contrast to the darkness of their deep, piercing eyes. Between them is a crib. A black baby’s crib with white lace edging.
You spin around and run towards the light of the living room.


The sound of birds singing outside the window slowly awakens you. You stretch like a lazy cat and rub the sleep out of your eyes, enjoying the warmth of the sun’s rays on your body.
You swing your legs over the side of the sofa and leave the living room, walking towards the kitchen, when a shrill sound rings through the peaceful morning.
It is the doorbell.
You stop in the hallway and turn your head to stare at the front door. The bell rings again.
Will you go and look?