Nightmares. They're awful things. They strike you in the night without a single bit of consideration for your mental state, and leave you terrified for what seems like an eternity after you wake up. You dare not to move. Not to breath. They make you fear your own room. That coat hanging from your closet becomes a monster, or some other being waiting to lash out at you. The first words that escape you are it was only a dream... it was only a dream... and it makes you wonder, how did I not realize it was a dream?

The mind perceives everything in your dream as normal. No matter how out of the ordinary it may appear, you continue to think it's your reality.

Dreams can last for as long as they like, no matter how long the night truly is, a dream can extend that time and leave you wishing everything would end.

Nightmares captivate us. They refuse to let us go, and finally release us at the best or worst possible part. The nightmare never ends when you want it to. It ends when youve all but given up hope on ever escaping the living hell within your own mind. It ends right before death, right before you hit the ground after a long fall.

Your heart beats like mad, and every bit of pain, emotional or physical is as strong as you expect it to be. This is why nightmares keep people, both young and old, awake at night, fearing what may happen should they dare to shut their eyes and return to sleep.

Even after the night is over, the nightmare continues. It lives on in memory, and it scars you. It returns in moment of fear, it returns in moments of similar nature. However it most often returns to puzzle us. It leaves us trying to determine what it means, trying to unravel the riddle of our own human mind.

The mind is a terrifying thing, and this is why its one of the most powerful things in the world. Fear, sadness, anger, all sorts of things. They are all processed by the mind, and whatever your mind thinks is real, is ultimately what you know is real.