As Sara’s eyes adjusted to the near total darkness of her room, she could see that nothing had changed. No one was there. She drew a deep breath. Perhaps one of the night staff had checked her room. That might have awakened her. But that couldn’t account for the fact that she had felt a strange presence in the room. She had been dreaming again, the first time since coming here.
By dawn, Sara had made her decision. It was time to talk openly and frankly about this, in detail. Residents were left to make their own decision about therapy, whenever they felt it was time. Sara scheduled a session with the therapist for that afternoon.
“Now then, Miss Jones, tell me about this dream, every detail you can remember. Just close your eyes, relax, and take your time.”
“This was like every other time. It’s always the same,” Sarah said. She described the feeling of watching the mist enter the building and come into her room. Then the feeling of something cold, touching her and caressing her, just before she woke.
“Do you wake immediately, as soon as you feel this?”
“Yes, it wakes me, the cold touch of … whatever it is!”
“How do you feel when you wake?”
“Scared, mostly… in a cold sweat. I have the strangest feeling that I’m not alone.”
“What do you do after waking?”
Sara drew a deep breath. “I turn on the light; I search my room, sometimes the entire apartment, but, of course, there’s no one there. I know if I go back to sleep I’ll dream again, and if I go to bed I’ll fall asleep, so I usually sit up and read until daylight.”
“I see. Is this what you’ve been doing every night you have this dream?”
“Yes, and practically every other night as well. I’m afraid to sleep, afraid of the dream, so most nights I’ve been getting very little sleep.”
“No wonder you’re so exhausted. What is it that scares you exactly? Is there something threatening about the dream?”
“No,” Sara said slowly, “not really. At least, I don’t think so. It’s just this overwhelming sensation of something out of the ordinary, something so totally alien that I can’t even begin to understand it. It has me terrified. I’m a total wreck, doctor, and I can’t take it much longer.”
The doctor smiled, nodding his grey head. “People generally fear what they don’t understand. One thing you must do, Miss Jones, is try to remain calm at all times, as much as possible. Have you sought help for this before?”
“No, not professional help anyway. I did try some kind of sleeping pills, thinking that if I slept too soundly I would not dream, but it was useless.”
“Anything else?”
“Nothing. Doctor, this has been going on for several months. What am I going to do? I need help.”
“That much is obvious, my dear young woman.” The doctor leaned back in his chair, stroking his chin thoughtfully. “Are you willing to try anything I suggest?”
Sara nodded her head. “Anything. I’m desperate.”
“Why don’t you try letting the dream play out?”
