Smog. I felt, deeply, the name was befitting for him. I do not know him, really. He has never spoken a word to me, no verbage. He had been a constant figure since late childhood, forever looming in the dream world.
My initial encounters did not involve Smog’s visage, no, instead, I felt awareness of him. The dreamscape, frighteningly real, of my most private space – my bedroom. The door slightly ajar, toys strewn everywhere. Then I felt – felt his encroaching presence.
Suddenly I was petrified. Physically, mentally, I could not move my limbs, knowing Smog was coming. As my heart accelerated, profoundly tachycardic, I’d awaken.
Then, I met Smog…
He had the silhouette of a man, physically shaped as a man, coming to me in my slumber. Chasing, chasing, chasing, knife in hand. I finally met the strange inhabitant of my preteen dreams. I… saw him. Startled awake once he caught up to me.
Smog was not satisfied, perhaps irate, in that realm of somnolence, never being able to steal it, my life, my ability to forego living…
Smog decided to greet me in reality, my world outside of his domain. I woke up, body on fire, feverish under thick quilts. There he was, at the foot of my bed, his black, humanoid silhouette, smokey black tendrils from his limbs, fingers, watching me. I felt that same petrification – awake. Alive. I could not move. I could not scream.
Suddenly he vanished, so ephemeral our external encounter had been. I gained control over my body, able to move my appendages. I began to run, run far away from my bedroom to a different, occupied room – occupied by a family member.
I had eventually, towards late teens, adapted to these nightly visits. The moment my body felt numb, not there, immovable, I heard my voice screaming wake up, move, and my body immediately fought to sit up, escape.
He gave up, once I made it well into my twenties, choosing to leave me alone. I figure indefinitely, presuming his absence was due to one-singular reason. It is because I do not fear Smog. He has no credence, and now, now if I were to see him? I’d simply say ‘hello’…