A Nightmare

Jetson tossed and turned in his bed, tangling himself in his thin blanket unable to find a comfortable spot. He slammed a hand down on the mattress, growing more frustrated with each passing second. Letting out a huge sigh, Jetson stilled, feeling exhausted but too tired to sleep. He raked his hand through his long dark brown hair before glancing at the clock on his nightstand. 

2:51 am.

Feeling overheated, Jetson ripped off his blanket, but it didn’t help. He then decided tonight’s full moon was too bright and that had to be the reason why he couldn’t sleep. He got up and padded barefoot across the cool hardwood floors to his window to pull the curtains shut. Something brighter than the moon, illuminating in the night, caught his brown eyes. Jetson glanced down from his third-story apartment to find the source. 

There, staring back at him with icy blue eyes was a pure white horse with a long white flowing mane and tail glowing in the shadows of the trees. 

As soon as his brain registered what he was looking at, Jetson gasped and flung himself back. He collided with his dresser, sending his knick-knacks clattering. Jetson, taking shallow breaths, slid down to his hardwood floor hoping he didn’t see what he just saw. 

He had to be dreaming. 

It couldn’t be. 

Jetson wasn’t sure how long he sat there, curled up with his knees to his chest not knowing what to do. Maybe this was all just some caffeine-fueled dream, and he was going to wake up. Resting his elbows on his knees, he held his head in his hands.

There was no sleep for him tonight. 

He thought back to when he and his sister, Indigo, were kids listening to the stories about Nightmares told by their grandmother before bed. It was a dumb kid’s story about facing your fears. Never once did it cross his mind that there was any possibility of it being real. Children’s stories were never meant to be real. Nightmares were like the Bogeyman or the monster under the bed, scaring children into behaving. They were urban legends to tell by the campfire or at sleepovers to scare little kids; just harmless fun.

In those stories, a glowing all-white horse with icy blue eyes and a flowing mane and trail would appear to warn you that what you were fearing the most was going to come to pass. Jetson unfortunately knew what his Nightmare was. It was the reason for his sleepless nights for the past month. He glanced up and saw the red ring box sitting on his nightstand and couldn’t help but worry that Layla was going to say no, that he would make a fool of himself, that their relationship of four years meant everything to him but nothing to her. 

That was his Nightmare, and she was warning him that Layla is going to say no. 

Jetson had countless thoughts swirling in his mind but at some point, he must have worn himself out. The shrill of his cell phone’s alarm shocked him awake at 4:00 am and he found himself lying on the hardwood floor. Jetson wished that of all days today wasn’t his turn for the dawn trail ride but unfortunately, it was. Despite his maybe one hour of sleep, he needed to get to the dude ranch to start his shift.

As Jetson started to push himself up from the floor, his spine protested, and he instantly regretted not forcing himself to go to his bed when his eyelids started to grow heavy. He unfolded himself from the ground and gingerly made his way to his closest. Jetson didn’t know what to do except to continue with his day and hope his Nightmare was just a nightmare. Jetson quickly got himself ready for work, grabbing some faded blue jeans, a long sleeve green button-down, and pulling on his dirty cowboy boots. After brushing his teeth and grabbing an apple for breakfast, he left his apartment in just twenty minutes. 

As he made his way down the hallway he passed by Layla’s apartment and paused, pulling out a small note from his pocket. He always slid a note under Layla’s door every morning before he left for work but after last night, Jetson was a little more hesitant about writing it. He had doubts in his mind placed there by his Nightmare, but he figured maybe he could stall his Nightmare if he continued to show Layla how much she meant to him. Before he could reconsider, he pushed the note under her door and hurried out of the building. Jetson climbed into his blue pickup truck and drove to Shadow Valley Dude Ranch where he knew a long to-do list waiting for him would keep him busy enough. 

It was a short drive to Shadow Valley and before Jetson exited his truck, he put on his dusty cowboy hat to cover the untamed bedhead that he forgot to deal with. He went right to work, feeding the herd of thirty horses and saddling up a few for the dawn trail ride. As he was saddling up the last horse he could feel as though someone was watching him, but Jetson knew that no one should be down at the barn yet. The overnight staff should still be in the mess hall with the guests handling breakfast. Jetson finished girthing the palomino, gave her a pat on the neck, and as he exited her stall, he nervously glanced down the barn aisle.

 Sure enough there she was, his Nightmare, watching him with those icy blue eyes. Almost instantly he couldn’t help but imagine that Layla found his note this morning, crumpled it up, and threw it in the trash without ever reading it. 

“Guests are on their way. Horses ready?” The soft-spoken familiar voice of his coworker and best friend, Shiloh, snapped him out of his trance.

Jetson blinked and his Nightmare was gone but he couldn’t take his eyes off where she once was, feeling like he was going out of his mind. Jetson still couldn’t comprehend that Nightmares were real, that his grandmother was telling them the truth.  

“Jets? You good?” Shiloh asked when Jetson didn’t answer him right away.

Jetson finally turned around to face Shiloh, “yeah, um, horses are saddled. Chip’s still lame on that hind leg so he’s off for the day.”

“You look exhausted,” Shiloh mentioned studying Jetson with his blue eyes. “Are you sure-”

“I’m fine, Shi.” Jetson snapped. 

“Gotcha.” Shiloh nodded his head and adjusted his black Stetson that covered his shaggy red hair. “Who do you have me on?”

“Sorry, just didn’t sleep much last night,” Jetson mumbled. “For the dawn ride, I’m riding Marzipan and you have River Styx.”

Jetson was on his third and final trail ride of the day and was struggling to keep his eyes open. After a day of trail rides, team penning, archery, and caring for the ranch, he was exhausted. He was thankful that Boxer learned his way because he was having a hard time focusing. Jetson’s whole body ached, and he couldn’t even sit up straight in the saddle anymore. Just a couple more hours and he could be driving his truck back to his apartment where he can curl up in bed. Jetson glanced back to make sure his fifteen guests were still accounted for and keeping up. Shiloh was good at bringing up the rear and pushing along any of the slower horses but sometimes these dusk rides can be unpredictable as deer start to move around. Shiloh gave him a slight nod and Jetson brought his attention back to Boxer’s grey ears. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted something white. Concerned that it was a deer, he immediately whistled to warn Shiloh. He waited with bated breath for Boxer, a new and younger horse to the ranch to react, but he never did. Jetson glanced over to locate the deer and instead found his Nightmare following them between the trees.

 No one else was reacting because only he could see her.

 Jetson could feel the doubt start to settle in his mind; he can see Layla packing up her apartment because she didn’t want to be anywhere near him. 

Shiloh’s short whistle telling him that everything was clear brought Jetson to the present moment. He shook his head and in a blink, his Nightmare was gone. He didn’t know how he was going to get rid of his Nightmare. Jetson just hoped he would get some decent sleep tonight and all this would be over with soon.  

When the trail ride was over the guests helped untack, brush, and feed the horses. Once the basic barn chores were done, the overnight staff came to collect the guests to take them to dinner. Jetson and Shiloh were left to finish up and make sure the horses were set for the night. 

“You have to face her.” 

Jetson turned to face Shiloh, “who?”

“Your Nightmare. Do what’s scaring you the most.” Shiloh tipped his hat and started to walk out of the barn, leaving Jetson to question how his friend knew. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Jetson saw the white glow. At the end of the barn aisle, stood his Nightmare. He took a slow deep breath and made his way to the white horse with icy blue eyes. She watched him in stillness, never taking her gaze off him. 

Jetson started to picture Layla turning away from him as he got down on one knee, “no, that’s not going to happen. I know what you’re trying to make me believe but you’re wrong. You have to be wrong.”  

He pushed past all of the doubt, the fear, and the anxiety and stood face to face with his Nightmare, “you are going to go away and never come back. Leave me alone!” 

In a blink, his Nightmare was gone. Jetson smiled, feeling a sense of relief now that it was all over with. He got in his pickup truck and drove home. He was happy, he can go on with his life like this never happened. Maybe he could pretend it was just some hallucination from the lack of sleep. He parked his truck, made his way into the building, up the stairs, and stopped at Layla’s apartment like he always did after work. They would catch up and have dinner together, maybe play a board game or watch a show. 

He gave a quick knock and waited.

 And waited. 

And waited. 

There was no answer which wasn’t like Layla. He checked his phone expecting a missed text from Layla saying that she was going out with friends, or running an errand, or helping her little sister with her homework. Jetson tried to not think about his Nightmare because he knew he put a stop to it. He stood up to his Nightmare and she was gone. That was over with. This was just some coincidence. Jetson let out a sigh and trudged down the hall to his apartment feeling lost in his thoughts and just wanting a shower and his bed. As he opened his door, he unexpectedly smelled garlic and heard pots and pans clanking. 

“Hello?” Jetson questioned, slowly entering his apartment, closing the door behind him, and kicking his boots off.

“Jets! Hey! Your home.” Layla greeted him with a toothy smile. “Shiloh texted me saying you were having a rough day, so I made you dinner!”

“Thank you,” Jetson said giving Layla a hug. “This means more than you think.”

He knew his Nightmare was wrong and everything would be okay. 

After dinner and an episode of their old favorite show, Jetson walked Layla back to her apartment, “are you still coming to the ranch tomorrow for the Halloween party?”

“Of course!” 

It was the next day, Halloween night, and Jetson was double-checking the stall doors before making his way to the mess hall where the rest of the staff and guests were. He couldn’t help but glance over his shoulder looking for his Nightmare, especially with the ring box in his pocket. Her reminded himself that it was over, he stood up to his Nightmare. He entered the mess hall through the open garage door and found it completely decorated for Halloween from cobwebs to skeletons to pumpkins, every inch of the building was covered. He spotted Shiloh serving some snacks.

“Layla here yet?” Jetson asked. 

“No, haven’t seen her.”

“She said she would be here.” 

Shiloh shrugged. Jetson could feel those doubts creeping in again, but his Nightmare shouldn’t be here. He exited the mess hall and there she was, the glowing white horse with icy blue eyes. He was so certain that his Nightmare was over after last night. Layla was going to show up. Layla said she would be here, and she will be. He wasn’t sure how long he waited outside in the chilly night but he knew it felt like a lifetime especially with his Nightmare watching him from the shadows. 

“Jetson.” 

Layla was dressed in a black velvet dress with a white collar, her brown hair in braided pigtails, and her brown eyes traced with eyeliner, ready to celebrate Halloween. Behind her was his Nightmare, still watching him, waiting to see what he would do, almost challenging him. Some of the guests and his coworkers started to mingle outside by the nearby bonfire. He had an audience to witness Layla saying no; he would make a complete fool of himself, and Layla would pack up and leave town.

He glanced over to Shiloh who gave him a supportive nod. 

He had to take the risk.

He had to prove his Nightmare wrong.

He had to do what absolutely scared him the most right now no matter what the outcome might be. 

Heart pounding in his chest, Jetson got down on one knee.

Time seemed to freeze at that moment and the world had gone silent.

Layla said yes with a beaming smile and tears down her face.

The crowd cheered and clapped.            

Jetson watched as his Nightmare bowed and vanished…for now