I had a series of fever-like dreams on one summer night last year. These multiple and very short dreams were a combination of perplexity and horror.
We were visiting my fiance’s parents and sleeping in his old, upstairs bedroom in the summer heat, which I am considering a contributing factor to these dreams. In the dream, I awaken in my fiance’s bedroom. The room looks as it does in reality, and nothing in the room in out of place. However, there is a woman standing at the foot of the bed. She is a very petite (small build and about 5’ 1”) black woman who appears to be in her forties. There is nothing off about her appearance; she has average facial features and dark brown eyes — a very nondescript woman. Despite this, I can’t help but feel this overwhelming sense of dread as I sit up and stare at her.
“Beware of the Buwaahg,” she said in a very bland, monotone voice. I raised an eyebrow.
“The what?”
“I said, beware of the…BUWAAHHG!” she suddenly shouted as her face distorted into this horrific face. It nearly impossible to describe how terrifying she looked. Her eyes bulged as parts of her face appeared to sink in while others seemed to expand in size. The closest thing I can think of is the ending scene with Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Though even his deformed half-cartoonish eyes doesn’t match the level of distortion of this woman’s appearance. I scream and wake up.
I’m in R’s room again, I get up, still shaking off the weird dream I had. It’s morning, and I do to get my day’s clothes from my bag in front of the closet. I bend down to grab my bag when the closet doors pushed open.
“BUWAAHHG!”
I’m on a bus full of people, riding to an unknown destination. I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turn around.
“BUWAAHHG!”
I’m walking around a mall, passing all the shops in a fast, tireless pace. I weave through the crowds of people. A group of girls moves out of my way. Behind them is the woman. I turn around to run the other way. She’s now behind me.
“BUWAAHHG!”
I was hiding in the woods. Trying to stay hiding, trying to be found by her. I climb up a tall pine tree. At the top of the tree the sky is clear and bright. Something tugs on my pant leg. I look down.
“BUWAAHHG!”
On and on it continued in various places. Over and over this woman would find me, her face would distort, and I would panic only to “wake” up in a new scene.
Finally, I actually woke up. I looked at the clock of the beside table. It was just after four in the morning. I blinked and the time stayed the same; I knew I was really awake. I took several deep breaths, feeling more exhausted than when I had fallen asleep. I meditated. I realized how silly the dreams really were, no matter how terrifying the woman’s face appeared. I convinced myself that I was safe and secure before falling back asleep.
I “wake up” once again in R’s bedroom. Like the first dream, everything feels so real. The woman is again standing at the end of the bed, staring at me.
“Beware of the…”
“No. No. NO!” I shouted, interrupting her. “Enough! Leave me alone…and stop doing that thing with your face.”
The woman closed her mouth, continuing to stare at me, though she looked like she was thinking.
“Alright,” she said with a shrug and turned around. “But beware…” she trailed off she walked through the wall behind her.
I spent the next few hours sleeping far more peacefully than I had the entire night.
Dream Score: 1/10. I know it sounds like a stupid thing to consider a nightmare, but if people could see the face that this woman made, they might understand why this little lady was so terrifying. I give it the one point, because I was able to tell her off.
Dream Journal 