Copyright 2009 Tom
Fowler
The Nightmare
A short story by Tom Fowler
Ralph Justus heard a faint noise in his room – or thought he did. It
did not matter, this had happened many times before. He looked over at the
oversized digital clock on the nightstand that told him it was
Even half asleep, Ralph took pleasure in his recent purchase. His
eyesight had gotten worse and he could not see the numbers on a normal size
clock, even though the bright red of the digits stood out in stark contrast to the
blackness of the master bedroom.
Ralph thought he was dreaming. He saw in front of him a shadowy
figure and the faint glint of something metallic. Foggily, he thought one of
the other three persons in the house this night was there to strike him. For sure,
they had reason to.
His wife of 25 years, Ann Justus, had recently been publicly
humiliated by Ralph’s affair with a young intern at work.
His sister, Gloria Justus Caldwell, desperately needed the $25,000
she had loaned him a couple of years earlier, unknown to Ann.
Recently, Ralph found that his son Phillip had developed a drug
habit. He refused his son’s plea for help.
Ralph was not a nice man and it was only fitting that his dreams
were often unpleasant. He long ago had learned to live with the bad dreams that
often escalated into full blown nightmares. It was the price he paid for a life
of abusing others and foolish living.
So, the shadowy figure that crept closer to his bed did not unduly
frighten him as it would another person, for someone else would not realize it
for what it is: simply a bad dream. Nothing more, nothing less and something
his afternoon nap would make up for. Early afternoon was the only time that
Ralph could sleep peacefully and not suffer the effects of his subconscious
guilt.
As he drifted back into what, for him, was a deep sleep, Ralph
faintly noticed again the menacing metallic object in the hand of the black, wispy
dream visitor. In his half awake state, it appeared to be a knife, but he
wasn’t sure. What he was certain of, however, was the glitter of the watch on
the intruder’s wrist. The thought passed through his troubled mind that only
one of the three persons in the house this morning wore a wristwatch.
Ralph realized the truth too late. Before he could scream out to
Ann, who was still sleeping in the same bed with him even though she had only
recently learned of his infidelity, the long knife pierced the temple of his
brain, causing both the nightmares and his waking awareness to disappear
forever.
Epilogue
Later, but still very early in the morning, the three of them
finalized their story. Ralph had been a bad person, but the people around him
were, ultimately, no better than he.
Over coffee, it was decided not to call the police right away. The
blame was to be placed on the Justus’ handyman, Olen Taylor, a kind but
dimwitted man who had been observed violently arguing with Ralph a few days before.
The three needed to discuss what they would tell the police one last time.
After finalizing their plans, Ann said, “It’s done.”
Phillip said, “I better be going before the rest of the neighborhood
wakes up.”
Gloria smiled at Ann, causing the new widow to ask, “So what are you
smiling at?
“Darling, I was just noticing how nice that new diamond wristwatch looks
on you.”