The dream would always start the same way. I would be sleeping in bed, the lights are out, my other two brothers sleeping across the room. Suddenly, I would be awoken by a strange noise. In the dream, I would open my eyes and scan the dark room and not see anything except a faint red glowing in the corner by the window. I would let my eyes adjust to the darkness and then pull the covers off and get out of bed to investigate.
As I approached the window, I could smell brimstone. (Not sure how I knew what brimstone smelled like, but I did nonetheless) The red glowing became more intense. I glanced back at my two brothers and they were asleep. At that moment I knew something bad was going to happen, (My spider senses were tingling) (This was the late 1960's folks, Spiderman was popular back then) but for some reason, I kept going.
A few more feet and instantly a tall figure came into immediate focus. It was the classic depiction of the Devil himself. All in red, with horns coming out of his head, yellow glowing eyes, a goatee, animal hoofs for legs, a menacing face, sharp fangs for teeth, and a red cape. I was frozen, not in fear, but on what to do. I wouldn't have to wait long.
The Devil lunged at me, grabbed me in his arms and announced in a loud theatrical roar, "I have you now, and I'm taking you to hell with me!" A moment later, my brothers Jack and George were holding me and yelling at me to wake up. I had climbed up into the window and was apparently ready to jump out. George yanked me down and a minute or so later my senses came back to me and I knew where I was.
Mom and Dad came hustling up the stairs to see what all the commotion was about. Jack said I was gonna jump out the window. I really didn't want to tell Dad that the Devil was after me and wanted to take me to hell. A few minutes of questions and it was "Everyone back in bed" time.
For the next few years, this nightmare would replay three to four times a week. My parents, fearing that I would hurt myself, (Jump out the window) re-arranged the beds making mine farthest away from the window and Jack and George's in front of the window. (I would have to climb over George's bed to get to the window.
) My sleepwalking and nightmare days had begun. It would last into my early teen years. Not just this particular nightmare, but a set of two that seemed to rotate like a bad movie of the week series. Columbo and McCloud. (I'm getting to that in a second)
I did notice something strange about this nightmare. After about a month of the exact same dream, somehow I understood that I was dreaming, and I knew what was going to happen next. I knew that I would see the Devil and that he would grab me and try to take me to hell. For quite some time, I played out this scenario in my sleep until one night, things changed.
Again, a noise woke me up and I saw the red glowing light. I got out of bed and walked over to the window. Again I saw the Devil but right before he grabbed me, I ducked and he missed. I then turned and ran. Out of the room and down the hallway. Then down the steps, across the landing, and down the rest of the steps with the Devil in hot pursuit. I made it to the front door and headed for open space, the playground behind my house.
Looking back, the Devil was in hot pursuit. Apparently having hoofs feet was an extreme advantage for him. A moment later, I spied my advantage. The jungle gym. The Devil was so big he wouldn't be able to fit inside but i could jump right in and keep the Devil at bay. I turned on the jets and made my way to the jungle gym.
As stated earlier, the Devil was light on his hoofs, and he was gaining on me. He was so close I could feel his hot snotty breath on the back of my neck, the smell of his sweaty brimstone odor, and I could hear low guttural snarling.
I was getting tired at this time and every trip around the circle the Devil was gaining. It was inevitable, he was going to catch me. I didn't want to look back but like a bad movie, I had to. As I glanced back, The Devil was reached his arms out and grabbed me and shouted he was taking me to Hell.
And SNAP! I was awake. My brothers found me in the dining room running around the table. This new scenario would continue for months until one one night, I had had enough. While running from the devil once again, and knowing the results, I decided to stop. The dream started the same as always. Hearing a noise, seeing the glowing red light, seeing the Devil, ducking, running, him giving chase, the playground, the jungle gym, the running. But this time, instead of running in circles in the jungle gym, I stopped and turned around to face the Devil.
The Devil continued to run toward me snarling and growling but I stood my ground. A second later, right before he was going to grab me and take me to Hell, the Devil vanished into thin air. I had won. I faced my fear and I had won. I would have this nightmare only a few more times with the same results. Me winning the battle. The last time I had the nightmare, I stopped it right from the beginning. Instead of getting out of bed, I just rolled over and went back to sleep.
Now I had to work on my other nightmares.
LURKING ON THE GRASSY KNOLL
