Have You Ever Seen Yourself Asleep?
Prologue: "Close the damn window", mom yelled at us before we all went to the bed. My brother went into the kitchen and closed the window. Although she is a kind person, I and my siblings don't have the nerve to disobey her direct orders.
"Something is hurting me. I shouldn't be here. What is happening?"
And suddenly, my eyes were wide open. It was pitch dark, yet I realized that I fell asleep with headphones around my neck. Although I was on my bed, I couldn't shake the feeling of being tired from a long journey. As a habit I checked my phone; it was 3.10 of the morning.
It was my third night of waking up sweaty and thirsty at the same time. So, while cursing my exaggerated dreaming abilities, I headed towards the kitchen. I was stressing my memory to recall what happened and what woke me up so late at night. I reached into the kitchen, filled the glass with water, and sat in the window.
Back then, we lived on the first floor with the kitchen facing the main street. I always enjoyed seating at the kitchen window and watch the road down running at its pace. It gave me a feeling of being a witness to this majestic chaos around me. Every day, I watched hundreds passing by with thousands of expressions on their faces. Most times these faces were confused; many times they were numb and very rarely, I got a glimpse of happy faces.
I poured myself a glass of water. When the water touched my dry tongue, I wondered about all the missing faces.
‘Where they are now?’
There was no sign of my thousand faces. Just long-empty-black-road that felt like some deserted red carpet of a gala. It was not just me who was idle that night. My majestic chaos was idle at that night. The puddle rain created in the morning lying sluggishly reflecting the dull-orange street lamps. Although I lived in that flat for more than a year, I never saw the road at such late hours.
Then, it all happened swiftly. Mechanically I took a lemon and threw it out of the window. While that tiny ball wall tumbling down, the dream that woke me up came to me…
I was at the top of a shady building. The sky was the worst shade of blue you could imagine like someone mixed all the blues, greens, and greys just to create something ominous. I remembered the darkness. I remembered two hands coming for me... Those malicious hands that threw me over the edge...
Just a whim of this dream petrified my core. The menacing memory of that dream reminded me of the struggles I made to save myself from crashing on the ground.
With every passing second, the land was coming closer. I was had to do something. I had to hold on to something, that futile scuffle of finding something solid, something that I can hold onto.
Then there were those malicious hands looking at me from the roof, telling me that I am unwanted there. I felt the friction of air against my skin, against my entire body. Then, there was the wham of me hitting the ground and opening my eyes in my bed.
Although I came back, the fear never left me.
'Anyways'
I told myself, as this wasn't the first time I dreamed of falling from the height. Now, the glass was empty, the lemon was on the ground and the puddle was still idle, so I headed for my bed. At the door of my bedroom, my heart sunk into an abyss...
I saw myself asleep!
IT was there, seating beside my sleeping head. IT was those sinister hands, but this time it came with the rest of the body, or whatever the rest of the mass it had. IT was bad, dark, and smelled rancid like death. Black is my favorite color, but I never imagined it in that shade.
My heart started pounding in my ribcage. What do I do? Where do I go? I tried to scream but my voice betrayed me big time. IT's darkness was trying to swamp me and then again there were those malicious hands trying to wrap me and drag me to a place which my conscience was horrified to imagine.
I was struggling to breathe, to scream but my all efforts were in vain. I wanted to call my dad and beg him to take me away. Then the darkness came along with that foul odor of someone who was never alive. The struggle again struggles to breathe and struggles to escape from that sinister laugh...
Suddenly I opened my eyes and saw my mon knelt on my face. As she woke me up, she asked me the reason behind my loud cries. I couldn't say anything because my throat was hurting as I screamed for hours.
What do I say?
'I saw myself asleep!'
No, I couldn't say those words. For the first time in life, I had everything to say but the words betrayed me.
"I had a bad dream."
I asked my mom for a glass of water. She went to the kitchen to fetch water and a moment later I heard her voice...
"Why the window is open?"
Opinions and Perspectives
That moment of discovering yourself asleep is pure psychological horror.
I keep coming back to why the window was open at the end. It changes everything.
This perfectly captures that 3 AM feeling when everything feels slightly off.
It's interesting how memory works in the story, coming back in fragments.
The contrast between the mother's normal reaction and the supernatural experience is striking.
Can't shake the feeling that the lemon throwing is somehow connected to the entity.
I appreciate how the author captures that dreamlike logic where things just happen.
The mix of everyday details with supernatural elements makes this extra creepy.
That feeling of being unwanted in your own dream space is particularly disturbing.
The description of the struggle to save themselves from falling is so visceral.
The detail about the faces being confused or numb feels particularly relevant to modern life.
I find it interesting how the character seems more afraid of telling their mom than the actual experience.
The story captures that weird space between dreaming and waking perfectly.
That moment of realization at the bedroom door is perfectly crafted horror.
Anyone else wondering about the significance of living on the first floor?
I can relate to that feeling of being unable to explain a supernatural experience to family.
I'm struck by how the simple act of getting water turned into something so terrifying.
The detail about their throat hurting from screaming adds such authenticity.
This seems like a perfect example of how our minds can create complex narrative loops.
Interesting how the mother's initial anger turns to concern by the end.
The description of struggling to breathe felt so real I found myself holding my breath.
The transition from peaceful night watching to pure horror is masterfully done.
The part about their voice betraying them really resonates with my nightmare experiences.
I don't understand why they threw the lemon. That detail seems significant but unclear why.
The physical sensation descriptions make this feel so real and relatable.
Does anyone else think the IT creature might be a manifestation of sleep paralysis demons?
The contrast between the normal family life and the supernatural experience is really effective.
I'm more concerned about why they were having recurring nightmares for three nights.
Pretty sure this is just an elaborate dream sequence and they never actually left their bed.
That line about black being their favorite color but never imagining it in that shade is haunting.
The whole thing reads like a warning about something, but I can't quite figure out what.
I wonder if anyone else has experienced seeing themselves asleep? It seems rare.
The smell of death detail really adds another layer of horror to the experience.
This is clearly a case of night terrors combined with lucid dreaming.
The puddle reflecting the street lamps creates such a creepy atmosphere.
I've never experienced anything like this but my sister swears she's had similar encounters.
The way the story loops from the window being closed to open again is brilliant writing.
This reminds me of the old superstition about not looking in mirrors at night.
Anyone else wondering why they were sleeping with headphones around their neck?
What gets me is how normal everything starts out with just getting water from the kitchen.
The recurring dream of falling makes this feel authentic. I've had those dreams myself.
I'm puzzled by the mother's role in this. She seems both protective and somewhat menacing at the start.
The description of the sky as the worst shade of blue really stuck with me. We all know exactly what they mean.
That's exactly what I was thinking! This sounds more like an out-of-body experience than sleep paralysis.
The part about seeing themselves asleep reminds me of astral projection experiences I've read about.
I don't buy it. Sleep paralysis doesn't work like that. You can't actually walk around and throw lemons out windows.
The timing of 3:10 AM seems significant. Isn't that supposed to be part of the witching hour?
What struck me most was how the character couldn't tell their mom what really happened. I totally get that feeling of having so much to say but no words coming out.
The description of the street view from the kitchen window was so vivid. I could picture those thousands of faces passing by.
I've experienced something similar where I thought I woke up but was still dreaming. It's called false awakening and it's pretty common.
Anyone else notice how the window keeps coming up? First the mom tells them to close it, then it's mysteriously open at the end. That's no coincidence.
I'm curious about the lemon throwing part. Seems like such a random detail but somehow makes it feel more real.
The way the author describes the darkness and those malicious hands really got under my skin. I won't be sleeping well tonight.
This story gave me chills! I've had similar experiences with sleep paralysis but never saw myself sleeping. That's terrifying!