Sleep Paralysis

It’s 3:04am.But I cannot see the clock.

How do I know this?

The hallway in front of me stretches as far as I can see.

Until I cannot see any further.

It’s dark. A lantern flickers on the floor between me and the foreseeable darkness that continues until eternity.

I look down at my feet. Pale, cold. The right one moves forward.

Then the left.

Then the right again, slowly.

I look up, down the hallway once again. Still dark. Lantern still flickering.

And nothing happens.

And then I look at my feet again. And the left one moves forward. Then the right one.

I look up again. But suddenly I am not in the hallway anymore.

I am in a bed. On top of the covers.

My feet are still pale. Still cold.

The door to the room is a few feet away from the edge of the bed where my pale, cold feet dangle.

Light flickers outside the door. Maybe it’s the lantern. Maybe it’s a flashlight. Maybe it’s the sun rising through the blinds.

But it can’t be the sun. It feels like only a few minutes have passed since I was in the hallway. It feels like 3:07am.

But how do I know this? I cannot see the clock.

A figure appears in the doorway.

I cannot make out their face. Or their clothing.

But they are of slender build. Long hands and thin shoulders.

They move. Left foot forward, then right foot.

My heart beats fast. The light outside still flickers.

Left, then right. Slowly.

My heartbeat is in my ears. It thuds like a tension headache.

They’ve reached my right side. Inches away.

I think to turn my head to look at their face, but I cannot move.

I am stuck.

Their breath brushes over my face. Tasteless, scentless.

They get closer. Centimetres from my face now.

I stay staring down at my feet. My pale, cold feet.

But they don’t feel like mine.

They don’t look like mine either.

I manage to move my eyes up to the figure’s face.

They don’t have a face.

I have trouble breathing. I don’t think I am even breathing.

Their head drifts towards my right ear. Their mouth so close I can feel the staleness of their voice without a word being spoken.

I hear their lips open. My heartbeat chokes me.

“Goodnight.”

Suddenly their gone. Suddenly I can see the clock.

It’s 3:04am.