The Cousin of Death [HHWC]

The Cousin of Death

An alarm clock beeps insistently… calling out for that human touch that will silence its cry. A slumbering body starts to awaken. Thoughts form as the veil of sleep starts to dissipate.

“Errr… why is my alarm set? It’s Saturday, I can sleep in,” grumbled Allen as he rubbed the sleep crust out of his eyes. He rolled over and turned the alarm off. Allen peeled back a soft, blue curtain and peeked outside. The vibrant sun greeted him with a very warm beam of light. “It’s another great day, might as well get up since I’m awake now,” he thought to himself. He twisted his head to the side, reached his arms out wide, and extended his legs as he let out a yawn in mid-stretch. Allen leaped out of the bed, feet crashing down on a cold wooden floor, ready to start his day. He aesthetically positioned his two pillows at the head of the bed. Grabbing two edges of his blanket, he snapped his wrists up then quickly down. The blanket parachuted in an orderly manner and perfectly draped the mattress.

RING!
RING!!

Quickly maneuvering to the one-drawer nightstand, Allen picked up the ringing phone, looked at the caller I.D. screen, smiled, pressed “Accept”, and said, “Hey baby. How are you doing?”

A very caring voice sweetly replied, “Good morning honey. I just wanted to tell you to wake up. You have a lot to do before the barbeque this afternoon.”

“I’m up Liv, I’m about to jump in the shower right now,” Allen answered back.

“Just wake up,” his girlfriend restated.

Laughing, Allen assured, “Babe, I’m really up. I’m out of bed and everything. No snooze button today.” She had to give him a hard time; all too often Allen abuses the snooze option.

“Good. I’ll see you later. Love you, bye.” Olivia hung up before Allen could even reply.

He sat the phone down and headed to the bathroom. He prepared a shower, unclothed, and stepped into the path of hot water. The jet of water was almost too hot to bear, but he endured the near scald because the heat soothed his aching back. He finished his morning cleansing and turned off the water. The shower door slid open, his dripping hand reached out to a grey, cotton towel hanging on the back of the door. He rubbed his body with the towel, then wrapped it around his waist.

DING DONG!

“Great timing,” Allen thought to himself with an emotion of annoyance. He walked over to the medicine cabinet, opened its misty mirrored door, retrieved his glasses, unfolded the temples, and finally put them on. Both lenses quickly fogged up, and a sense of engulfment overcame the freshly bathed man.

DING DONG!
DING DONG!

The doorbell rang out again. Ever the more annoyed, Allen opened the bathroom door and yelled towards the front door, “I’m coming!” Steam from the finished shower escaped into the hall as Allen stormed to the door.

DING DONG, DING DONG!
DING, DING, DING, DING DONG!!

Allen, now hot with anger, flipped the lock and swung open the front door. A large cloud of smoke blows into Allen’s face.

“It’s a boy!” jubilantly yells out Allen’s cousin, as he puffs the traditional fatherhood stogie. Allen's annoyance and anger instantly turned to joy. “Holy s# Mark, you and Jen are having a boy!?” Mark smiled and handed Allen a cigar with a blue and white cover that read, “It’s a Boy!” Allen grabbed his cousin and embraced him in a celebratory hug.

Beep, Beeeeep!

A red car full of high school girls honked and laughed at the men as they drove by. “Beeeep!!” Remembering his only attire was a towel around his waist, Allen embarrassingly giggled and released his cousin. Mark, still smiling said, “Wow, I’m going to be a father. Well man, I see you need to get dressed and all, plus I still have more people to tell about my wonderful news. I’ll catch you later at the barbeque.”
Allen, now full of happiness, exchanged a hand shake and words of parting with his cousin. Allen enjoyed the warm sun against his semi-nude body for a moment, stepped inside, and closed the door.

Later on that day we find a house full of familiar faces, happy voices, and the smell of freshly ignited charcoal. Allen made his way through the various rooms of the house. Greeting each friend he saw, he was wrapped up in small conversation at every turn. The nostalgia of talking to friends he hasn’t seen since childhood… the comfort of being surrounded by all of his loved ones… his cousin’s great news… Allen, on this perfect day, found himself overflowing with a happiness unlike any he’s ever felt.

“Hey Allen! Can you please take over the grill for a little bit?” shouted his wise, loving father. Allen nodded his head in confirmation and made his way to the grill. Smoke was billowing from the edges of the covered grill, and the heat intensified as Allen drew closer. “One of the juicy beef ribs must have caught fire,” Allen guessed to himself. Allen grabbed the handle of the grill cover. His hand was instantly met with the torment of skin blistering heat and he quickly withdrew his hand. The smoke smothered out any hint of fresh air, and Allen began to cough and choke. Noticing a cooking mitt, he tucked his hand inside and reached once again for the handle as he coughed even more violently. “RING, RING!” The cell phone in his pocket started to ring, adding to the chaos of the situation.

This was typical of Allen. Many nights the line between awake and sleep were blurred for him. Have you ever had a dream that felt so real it could’ve actually been happening had you not been actually asleep? Allen is a seasoned lucid dreamer. This entire story is a dream that Allen is engaged in as we speak. He has trained himself to stay asleep longer, have more control over his dreams, and go deeper into the dream world. His sleeping, subconscious mind is signaling to him that the hallway smoke detector has been screaming for almost an hour… he is having trouble breathing as thick, black smoke engulfs his house… his sensory receptors are reacting to increased heat as flames inch closer to his bed. His subconscious mind knows his house is on fire… but he unknowingly redirects the warnings and incorporates them into his dream world. The fire intensifies as Allen lies motionless, engaged in his lucid dream. Some say sleep is the cousin of death. Maybe we should devote more effort to living.

Interesting read, did you write it yourself? If not, I'd love to see the source.

I'm a big fan of lucid dreaming, it's something I've always tried to accomplish. But, I've never thought of it as being something that could potentially harm you.

S+F for the thoughts!

reply to post by gatorboi117


Yes, each word is fully my own. For the Halloween Writing Contest, I tried to think of new, upcoming, and popular trends that I could flip a sinister view on. With the movie "Inception" and all the recent talks of lucid dreaming, I settled on the subject. Thanks for reading

Definitely caught my interest. It was cheery with a definite sinister note with all the heat and smoke references. Goes to show you never know when bliss will turn dark in the mind's eye.