you had been going through a very hard time. you were slowly loosing motivation to do anything in life. you lacked an essential feeling that kept people going; happiness. it got so bad, that you were fired from your job. luckily for you, an ad popped up on your TV, advertising a pill called a dream pill! apparently, after taking it, you’d fall into a lifelong coma and become one with your dreams! so, of course, you bought it. when it arrived, you took the pill with little hesitation. and- as advertised- you passed out. your dreams were beautiful- until you ran into your first nightmare. it stemmed off of your severe social anxiety. you luckily escaped it, and went through another normal dream, before you encountered another nightmare. however, this was different.. as you traveled through the dark, twisting hallways, you encountered an odd corridor. on one wall, there were words written in what appeared to be blood. “when you get scared, I take over.”, “we walk the same, but we do not run the same”, and “join me in paradise” were a few. on the other wall was a long window. on the other side of the window was what looked to be a classroom. and in side of it, a figure stood. it was weird.. and it made you nervous. you walked down the corridor, and it followed you— no. it walked just like you. as if it already knew what you were going to do. as you reached the door on the opposite side of the corridor, it suddenly burst through the door, and slowly started following you backwards. you started to hear words in your head.

“join me in paradise.” “this is not real.” “be not afraid.”

you started panicking, hyperventilating. you desperately wanted to run.. but the creature seemed to feed off of your panic and anxiety, so you questioned whether running was actually a good idea. what will you do?