I bolted upright from my nightmare. While I let the few seconds of panic pass in which I couldn’t distinguish reality from dream, cold sweat dripped down my back. I rose from my bed and peered into the mirror hanging haphazardly above my dresser. Bags under my eyes and rat’s nest hair revealed the evidence of a terrible night’s sleep. My stomach growled and I responded by making a move to my bedroom door and towards the kitchen. As I approached the kitchen, things began to become very strange. I was floating, not walking, and I could see myself from almost a bird’s eye view. I shrugged this off and blamed it on hunger and a bad night’s sleep.

When I reached the kitchen after what seemed like ages, it was empty; no one in sight. I checked the living room.

“Hello, anyone here?” I asked. No reply. This was odd because there is usually at least one person hanging around the kitchen and living room. I went back to the kitchen and looked out the window. There they all were, my dog, my mom, my dad, and my brother and sister.

“Why are they sitting in the middle of the yard around that comically small table,” I said aloud to myself. I flew into the backyard to investigate.

“Hello everyone,” I said in a cynical voice. My mom turned to me with a smile from ear to ear, literally. I was shocked by this unnatural sight and took a step back. My foggy mind tried to process what i was seeing.

“Good Morning,” she said in a slow, far away voice. They all turned to me with the same creepy smile and said the same thing, even the dog:

“Good morning.”

“Oh hell no,” I said after having my first rational thought and realization of the day. I bolted back into the house. As i sprinted to my room the hallway became longer and longer, I could barely see the end and my nightmare family was right on my heels. After nearly one hundred years I dove into my room and locked the door. The knocking followed immediately after I made it to safety. It was so intense it sounded like a pack of vicious animals trying to bang down my door and rip me to shreds. Chills were sent down my spine and the thin hairs on the back of my neck stood up when I heard the chant from the other side. Good morning, good morning, good morning, over and over again.

I tried to hide in the safety of my covers as the chant grew louder, and that’s when the door was pounded in. Closer and closer the chant moved until it was right over my face...and then i woke up.

“Good morning,” my mom said. “It’s time for school.” I blew a sigh of relief at this sight and at these words. It was just a bad dream. For the second time that day, this time for real, I rose from my bed and looked into the mirror above my dresser, this time hanging straight. My stomach growled and I responded by moving towards my bedroom door and to the kitchen. My  mom was standing in the hallway just outside my room.

“Hurry up, you don’t want to be late for school,” she said with a smile on her face stretching from ear to ear.