My Nightmare on Elm Street

I was having one of those dreams. The ones where you know somethings wrong, but you still don't know you're actually asleep. I felt stodgy. Like my mind was clouded, I couldn't see straight and my body felt like led. I forced my legs to move even though each step felt like pushing my way through invisible quick sand. I strained my face in extreme effort and even though I wanted to stop, it felt like something was sucking me in deeper.

My hazy vision only made me impatient as I pushed forward, the dreams false gravity feeling as if I were trudging up a steep incline. I looked forward and saw through the fog a house off in the distance. A large, eerie old white and green house with an overgrown lawn, and children jumping rope in the front yard.

As I approached them from a far, I could hear them singing some sort of childrens rhyme, but couldn't make sense of their words, so I forced my numb body to enter the yard. As soon as I stepped foot upon the overgrown, dying grass, the children stopped singing and turned to look at me.

I froze in my spot, not sure what to do. Suddenly, the little girl nearest the house whips her head around to look up at the front door with wide eyes. The other children look scared now, too, and I couldn't help but feel an uneasy pit in the bottom of my stomach.

"Oh, no!" Said the little girl with long brown hair and big blue eyes. "He's coming!" And before I had time to react they scattered out of sight. All but one; the big blue eyed girl. She reached for my hand and tugged hard. "We have to go! Hurry!" She pleaded with urgent eyes. Without thinking I allowed her to begin leading me around the side of the house, my mind in a complete daze. BANG! Both the little girl and I jumped in fright at the sound of the front door being wretched open and slammed against the wall. "It's too late..." The little girl whispered and yanked her hand away from me.

"Wait!" I said in a strained voice, but when I turned to face her she was already disappearing into the shadowy mist. I could feel my pulse beating through my chest and noticed how unnervingly silent everything now was. I swallowed hard and strained my ears for sounds, but was met with nothing but thick silence. I decided to investigate the source of the loud noise and slowly headed back around the front of the house and up the brick stairs.

With no sign of anything or anyone I cautiously entered the house with my breath held. I made it ten feet inside the house when predictably, but still startlingly, the red front door suddenly slammed shut all on its own volition. I jumped and looked around wildly, but there was still nobody to be seen.

"Okay, now this is starting to get ridiculous..." I muttered under my breath. Just then an abrupt cackle broke the silence turning my body into stone and I could feel the heat of someones breath on my neck. I gathered all the courage I had in me at the time and spun around with my fists swinging. But it was useless, for I came into contact with nothing and when I looked around, my heart racing, my palms sweaty, I saw no one. This made me mad. I didn't like to play games. And clearly, someone was having a good laugh at my expense.

I clenched my fists and made my way further into the house. "Having fun?" I called out as I headed up the stairs and into the first bedroom. A little boy with dish water blonde hair was sitting on the bed. He leaped to his feet when I walked in and looked at me with a frightened expression on his face.

"Why did you come here?" He said as tears filled his eyes. "Why did you come back?" The little boy demanded as they spilled down his cheeks.

"What are you talking about?" I asked beginning to feel frightened, but before he could say anymore, the door across the room flung open with another loud BANG and the figure of a man stepped out. The little boy screamed and ran into the corner of the room, but I was rooted to the very spot. I couldn't look away as I stood in the threshold of the doorway taking in the appearance of the evil man.

He crept forward, one hand held behind his back hiding something. My eyes trailed from his dark combat boots, up his dirty faded blue jeans, up along his old green and red striped sweater, all the way to his battered brown fedora hat and back down again until they finally settled upon his face. I felt my throat tighten and my mouth go dry as I saw that the skin on his face was completely burned, distorting his features in a menacing way.

My jaw dropped open involuntarily as he closed the gap between us and I caught sight of something glinting behind his back. I tried to read his expression, but it was too dark to see and I could feel my blood slamming through my veins at an incredible speed.

"RUN!" the little boy bellowed out of nowhere, causing my body to react. And I turned to run. Back down the stairs, to the front door. My hands fumbled for a doorknob only to find a smooth surface with no sight of a doorknob or lock ever existing.

"Fuck! What the fuck is this?" I cursed as I ran to the nearest window. I yanked at it to no avail.

"He's coming!" The little girl with big blue eyes was suddenly behind me, but I didn't have time to wonder about that right now.

"Who the hell is he?" I demanded as I allowed the little girl to take my hand and lead me through the house, but she didn't answer me.

"He's getting closer!" She cried out as I followed her through room after room until finally she came to a sudden stop.

"Who is he?" I repeated while glancing over my shoulder to make sure he wasn't right behind us.

"F-Freddy. His name is... Freddy K-Krueger." the little girl stammered. Just then, the door slammed shut behind me with another loud BANG! and someone grabbed me by my hair. I let out a earsplitting scream as Krueger pulled me back into him and yanked my head back so that I was stuck looking up at the ceiling. "NO! LEAVE HER ALONE!" the large blue eyed girl yelled as Krueger let out a growling laugh.

He put his face to my ear and I could feel the sensation of his warm breath on my skin as he whispered, "Welcome home, bitch!"

My eyes snapped open and I felt my head collide with the cold glass of the passenger seat window. "Ouch!" I complained as I rubbed the small bump on my head and looked around.

"Did you fall asleep again?" My father asked as he turned off the engine to the car. I nodded. "Well, we're here." He said while getting out of the car and stretching. I shook my head, still feeling bleary from the dream that was more like a nightmare than anything else. "Come on, we gotta' move the rest of our stuff." My dad said, interrupting my thoughts.

I got out of the car and began to help carry some of the boxes inside. I made it through the front yard and started up the steps, but stopped dead in my tracks. "Whoa!" My dad walked straight into me because of my abrupt halt. "What's the hold up?" He asked with furrowed brows. I, however, was feeling suddenly sick to my stomach as I looked around at the same brick stairs and the same red front door. I gulped and looked up at the white and green house from my dreams. "...Sarah?" My dad said, his voice beginning to sound worried.

"Nothing." I lied, snapping myself out of it and heading into the house, the address 1428 burning a hole into my soul with each and every step I took.