Death Dream

Mortimor had been plagued by almost every sleep disorder since childhood. After years of seeing sleep pathologists he was referred to a psychiatrist. He was 23 now. They prescribed him pillls to stay awake for the possible narcolepsy and sleeping pills for regularity. But nothing got rid of the night terrrors and daily nightmares. His dreams were as vivid as movies. He cried, screamed and talked in his sleep. He was not easy to live with. He also had severe mutiple day long streches of insomnia on occassion. He dreamed of situations where death was immennet but he never got that close. He was afraid it would happen someday. In his torture nightmares hefeltthe pain as if he were awake. Friends and doctors didn't believe it could be that way for anybody.
One medication gave him night terrors. He'd be half-asleep and his eyes would open and he'd still be in his nightmare but to anybody looking down at him he was just laying there. Hetriedto scream to say 'help me' but he couldn't move a muscle. This happened without medication too. They put him on Provigil to keep him up all day and prescribed a multitude of sleeping pills for nighttime. The provigil made his thoughts race. And the they never cold find a sleeping pill that worked for him. So they tried psychiatric drugs- antidepressants, antipsychotics. They seemed to make the impending doom worse. He didn't wantto sleep. There were three shadowy figures with long knives and they had claws. It became a reoccuring theme but each time they got closer. He told Dr. Warren and he just increased his antipsychotic. Mortimor woulddn't take it and stay up instead. He fell asleep one waiting for Dr. Warren and oneofthe figures cut him in his dream. He swore to Dr. Warren his arm hurt afterward. He was terrified of the sun going down. The three figures were in a field. Dr. Warren tried to tell him it was all a delusion. Mortimore stayedup the ongesthe could. Even when hefell asleep for a second the figures were there closer. He finallly gave up said a prayer and waited for sleep to take him. The nightmare began with the three shadowy figures closeto him. He'd never seen them approach so close before. Out of the darkness they exposed themselves as people or creatures he'd never seen before.
"It's time, Mortimor," said the tall man with a long knife.
The other stood with inhuman hands,claws sharp as razors.
The other stood in the background.
The tall man pullled out a knife andcut into Mortior's side.
The others ripped the cut open and flayed their claws inside.
Mortimor felt the whole thing until the blessed blackness of no dreams finally came.
His psychiatrist noticed he missed his appointment andhd the secretary call. Finally someone from the clinic visited his home and found him dead with undetermined causes since he'd been laying there dead a while. The autopsy showed he died in his sleep from a torn liver and internal bleeeding. Dr. Warren attributed it to liverdamage from taking medication but remembered Mortimor's fears of dying in his sleep violently.