OCTOBER PROMPTS: Fears and Nightmares

[Christine Daaé]

October is here – the month commonly known for the frights and terrors associated with Halloween. Chances are that your character has had some sort of fear or nightmare at one point or another, whether it be deeply rooted, or something completely obscure and silly. Your task is to choose from the prompts below and to write a response to that prompt for your character(s). Remember that you can reply with more than one character and that for each one that you reply with, you earn 15 euro for your response.

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[glow=white,2,300]OPTION ONE – FEAR ITSELF[/glow]

What is your character's worst fear? It can be something from the typical ones like clowns, or the dark, or heights, or it can be something else a bit... less common.... like realtors. Anyway, once you've determined this fear, you're on your way to writing this prompt. Imagine that your character is having an encounter with their worst fear (whatever it may be). Your task is to write out this encounter and your character's reaction to it. Your response must be at least five paragraphs in length, and contain proper spelling and grammar.

[glow=white,2,300]OPTION TWO – YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE [/glow]

Think of a nightmare that your character has had in the past. Now imagine that your character has this nightmare again (or for the first time if you can't think of one that they've had before). Your task is to write out a dream sequence in which your character experiences this nightmare. Your response may be written in first person (if you choose). Your response should be at least four paragraphs in length and contain proper spelling and grammar.

[glow=white,2,300]OPTION THREE – FEAR NOTHING BUT FEAR ITSELF[/glow]

Has your character ever been in a situation where they have had to overcome one of their fears? Your task is to write about a time your character overcame one of his or her fears in order to accomplish a task (no matter how big or how small). Be sure to include things like an explanation as to why your character was afraid before, how they overcame the fear then, and what they do to continue not allowing this fear to bother them in the present. Your response should be at least three paragraphs in length and contain proper spelling and grammar.

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And now, my lovelies, I leave you all to write away to your hearts' contents. Don't forget to post in the IOU list once you finish your response.

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[ladybarbossa]

Of all the waking nightmares I have experienced in my life - death of my father, never knowing my mother, the Angel of Music no more than a man, my son lost, my Husband's troubles, kidnapped and lost believing I would die - none made me feel as helpless as a true nightmare while I slept. Oh, a could barely sleep. The grip this nightmare had upon me was thorough.

I do not recall how it began but it ended with my waking in utter fright at my Husband's side. I do remember a vast black obsidian lake or river. I was in a boat all rotten and ancient, slowly and silently moving over the black glassy surface. I glanced over to look at the water that surrounded the little vessel only to see terrifying, decaying faces of people! So many people beneath the surface! Their eyes like demon's eyes locked upon me pleading and malevolent. I was horrified and retracted my hands to rest in my lap, refusing to look at anything but my escort. My eyes beheld for a flash whom I thought was my Angel only to melt away into Kharon himself! The Ferryman of the Dead was strange enough and always shifting in appearance from an strangely bearded man in oily rags to a decaying corpse! Frightened once again, I diverted my eyes and closed them wishing and wanting to pray but was unable to! How is it ever possible that one could never pray?!

Next I recall is walking through a vast field of golden grass and wheat with red skies and dark trees bordering. I thought it was peaceful and beautiful but that peace was violently ended by some beast, a great vicious dog-like beast giving chase. I could hear and feel it's hot, heavy breath upon my neck as it hounded me and drove me into the dark forest where I was consumed my darkness. I could hear nothing, and see nothing. A swirling light white mist began to surround me in that complete darkness. Then I saw eyes. A pair of eyes, burning and malicious like glowing embers. I was confronted and circled by some skeletal seafaring Captain who begged something of me but I heard nothing. There was no sound. Just utter silence. He took my hand and wrapped me in a cloak he suddenly wore and I was once again plunged into darkness.

Next I walked out upon a great cold stone rampart that towered high over a great, deep valley surrounded by mountains and vast dark forests. I was at some form of castle or fortress. The rampart where I stood had no block but only an edge that was weak and breaking away. Somehow I was foolish and drawn to continue walking to the edge of the rampart. As I came to the edge it gave way, plunging me into the depths below. The feeling of falling was so terrifying and never ending. Plunging not to my death but into an eternal abyss and darkness.

I awoke with a start to a sort of laughter in my head, a laughter I have never heard before. It terrified me. Never do I want to hear that laughter again.
Nightly I pray now for God to save me and protect me. That nightmare terrified me. I do not want to have it again.

[Roselin A. Soulle]

FEAR ITSELF

Strange things had already been happening to Roselin. Things like doors opening by themselves, foot steps around her when there was no one there, all things she found so cool. However... this was a very cruel trick by a person... or who or whatever it was! She had been locked in a room, the wooden floor was moist and the door knob as cold as ice. There was nothing spectacular about the room. There was a single dim-lit light-bulb hanging from the ceiling, a poorly made chair that sat lopsided and a picture frame with a picture on it of a castle burning down in flames.

She had been locked in the room for a good 15 minuets by now. Roselin sighed, plopping herself onto the floor. She then saw something from the corner of her eye, something crawling on the wall. She jumped up and went to the opposite wall. It was a plump black widow. The only defense Roselin had was her shoes, but luckily, they were her black boots. But how could she smash the innocent little thing? Plus, she was to frightened of spiders to go anywhere near them. But then it climbed down from the wall and onto the floor. Roselin whimpered. "Just crawl out, would you? Please? I don't want to hurt you..." She pleaded.

Roselin whimpered louder when it began to crawl quickly towards her. She moved quickly to the other side and the spider turned sharply and continued to charge at her. Roselin yelped and dove for the chair and climbed onto it. The spider still pursued her. Her haste made the chair teeter and then fall over on its side, making Roselin fall onto her arm -probably bruising it. She then saw the spider a mere inches from her face and it's fangs raising to dig them into her skin. Roselin yelped and jumped up and grabbed the chair, how desperate she was! She then threw it onto the black widow and with the lucky shot, squished it. She panted heavily.

Roselin's situation climaxed quickly into the most unfortunate situation. Out of the corners of the floor and of the ceiling, a sudden darkness covered them and then spiders began to poor out of them like fountains of darkness. Roselin screamed and ran to the door and began to beat on it heavily. "SOMEBODY HELP ME!! PLEASE! ANYONE!" She heard nothing but felt a spider crawling up her leg. She screamed again and wiped it off. Again in desperation, she picked up the chair and threw it at the door. This second collision did nothing to the door but instead shattered the chair. More spiders crawled up her leg and she repeated wiped them off and began to stomp her feet.

Roselin began to gag as she heard the squishing beneath her feet. She glanced behind her and saw the floor was covered in a thick blanket of spiders. Tarantulas, black widows, brown recluses, and many other spiders covered the floor. Roselin screamed at the top of her lungs, her heart thudding in her throat. She then began to kick down the door, hittinging it with the heel of her food and boot as hard as she possibly could. Finally, it began to brake beneath the vigorous force against the door. The door finally came down, spiders crawling up her body. She fled the moment the hole was large enough and never looked back. Never looked back to see... that there was never... any... spiders... there.




YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE

This is the third time I have had this dream. Of course, it is different then the first two times but it was still frightening all the same. I don't quite remember what first occurred... I think it had something to do with drowning but then I remembered waking up in a coffin. There was a 8 inch nail in my leg and staples in my arms. My body felt exhausted and difficult to move. I wished to scream, the pain of the nail in my leg and the staples in my arm, it was like they were actually there! Finally, I got myself up and out of the little dark room and into the sunlight outside.

Immediately, stones were being thrown at me, unrecognizable voices being shouted at me. The only words I could tare from the rest were 'monster' and 'hideous'. I heard it repeating over and over again. Tears burned my eyes and I ran as quickly as I could, but with a long nail digging around in the flesh of your leg, it tends to be difficult. I rose a hand up to my mouth, it was cover in stitches. My face felt grotesque, bones pointing sharply out that stretched my skin, it was moist and sticky like a sort of thick sickly slime. What was I? I am glad I never had to see myself in the mirror in that dream.

My nightmare suddenly took a turn for the worse. I was in a dark cellar, it was hard to see anything. But I could see a dark outline of a person. "Hello?" I called out, already shivering with anticipation. Then the moment turned blurry and I only saw a flash of rope, and then a course material around my neck, then snap. I was on the ground, numb all over. I was unable to breath, talk, or move. But I could still see clearly and staring up at the ceiling. I was then being dragged on the ground, I had no idea where I was going. Suddenly I was in a room full of candles and my killer stood over me.

It was Erik. All of them combined. He had Charles Dance's mask, with the color of the mask from the 1983 Phantom, the red and puffed lips from the Andrew Loyd Webber stage phantom, they yellow eyes of the original Erik, dressed like Destler's Erik, and more. But his eyes stared at me with such hatred, I wanted to scream. What was this madness?! I could not move... I could only stare. He then grabbed the top of my head with a hand full of my hair and suddenly had a sword in his hand. Was he about to take my head? I woke up just before the sword reached my neck. I was sweating furiously. Did that nightmare mean that I was so obsessive over the phantom that I was.. loosing my head?.... Nah.




FEAR NOTHING BUT FEAR ITSELF

Roselin was a four year old who was very much afraid of the dark. She refused to sleep without the lights on for she would get too frightened. Her mother would also have to sing her to sleep every night. For the longest time, she refused to sleep in the dark. She believed that things that she couldn't see would get her because she couldn't see them in the dark. She ever thought them as monsters or the boogeymen, just 'things' that would try to get her in the night while she sleeps. She thought she was only safe in the light and with her family around her.

Roselin's mother came in one night, putting her to bed. She then hesitated by her daughter's side and sighed. "Roselin... my dear little Rose... you need to learn how to sleep in the dark..." Roselin automatically shot up. "Mommy! Mommy! I can't! Nooooo!" She whined. Christine smiled a little and chuckled. "Rose... I know a way you can sleep in the dark and nothing will ever be able to harm you..." Roselin slowly began to calm down. "How mommy?" Christine wrapped her arms around her daughter, hugging her tightly. "You need only to think of the stars... they shine brightest in the darkness so as long as you stay good and bright... even in the dark will you be protected."

Roselin is a fourteen year old who is no longer afraid of the dark. She had lost her mother and brother to death and her father to a sort of madness. Now all she had was Erik Lenoir, who was really quite enough for her. She missed her family still, the people who told her that there was nothing to be afraid of. Whenever Roselin was having a hard time or feeling afraid in the dark, she would only remember the wise words of her mother. 'You need only to think of the stars... they shine brightest in the darkness so as long as you stay good and bright... even in the dark will you be protected'. Every time Roselin would remember and repeat it in her mind, she could feel her mother's arms wrap around her and hold her tight, keeping her protected.