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Description
     Lisa is studying for her major in psychology. She feels that her experience and long, terrifying nights as a dreaming child could be a useful ground to start examining hers and other’s psyche. But even though she is interested in dreams and how they interpret she is petrified of ever having one.

     With a long day of classes ahead of her, Lisa feels she must get her rest. She dresses for bed and lies down. Her eyes, dreary and heavy, fall closed and Lisa quickly enters her slumber. All around her, on the walls and the ceiling, are many, woven, dream catchers. Some say she is obsessed or wholly apprehensive but to Lisa they are just a step of cautiousness. Despite the large number of dream catchers she has Lisa enters a dream.

     When one dreams they know not what will happen next nor can they control the way the dream lays out. One cannot voluntarily move ones arm or walk a certain way. One cannot say a certain thing or wake up at an optimistic time. They must sit, or rather lie, through it and deal with what happens to them. Most of what happens in dreams is not what one would necessarily want to happen and when woken up the person may feel uneasy. This is not the case with good dreams, however. Now, because of these facts, dreams are an unknown realm that many people, not unlike Lisa, enjoy studying.

     There are many types of dreams. Of course there is the elusive good dream and the more common and notorious nightmares. Often times one will be searching for something in a dream or possibly lost from something. Another sort of dream is one of romance. This is the type that most people wish they had but, because of its bliss and occasional nudity, those sorts of dreams are rare. Every now and then dreams make very little sense to the subject and are, therefore, forgotten when they wake up. As for Lisa, she makes it a purpose of hers to record every dream she may have. And the dream she is having now is one she will not quickly forget.

     It is the type of dream she fears most. Not a bloodcurdling one but rather a bone-chilling, cliffhanger-ending type. It started with a white room filled a few feet high with fog and Lisa was in the center wearing a simple, lilac nightgown. She could hear a faint ticking and turned quickly towards the source of the sound. It was an average-sized, grandfather clock. The ticking, Lisa observed, seemed rather slow and almost too faint as she was rather close to the clock. The clock then drifts away as if the pull of gravity no longer has its grips on it. Just as suddenly Lisa is transported to a new location.

     She now finds herself in her apartment. All of the rooms are empty except for every clock she owns. All of them are ticking loudly and consistently except for the grandfather clock from earlier, which still ticks rather slowly but this time it seems louder then before. For some reason, Lisa feels she must approach the clock and so she does. The clock slowly drifts away again and so she grabs for it and falls. She does not hit the floor though. Instead she carries through it and finds herself falling.

     This new place is odd to her. It is too dark to see anything but she can feel something odd and enthralling. It is the feeling of wind passing fast through her hair and on her bare face, neck and arms. There is also a feeling of buoyancy in her stomach. A light flickers on the walls surrounding her and she observes her location. She is currently falling through a dark well enclosed with brick, circular walls. Another light flickers and she sees the grandfather clock ahead of her. Lisa then detects the ticking of the clock, which had slipped her notice before due to the fall she is experiencing. The ticking is now faster and louder, almost past the normal rate. One more light flickers and, as she once again reaches for the clock, it disappears.

     The sun is setting over an ocean and Lisa is now standing on top of the water. The clock is ahead of her and ticking rapidly and at full volume. Her current heart rate didn’t seem to differ much from the uniformity of the clock. She wonders what to do next. If she chases the clock, it will immediately disappear again and she feels she needs to touch it, to grasp it. The urge she is having is one almost too unbearable for as patient a person as Lisa. She needs to hold herself back with all strength and will.

     Lisa turns her head in every direction and sees no sign of land. She looks down at her feet, which are lightly grazing the surface of the water, and spots several fish. The clock then suddenly struck its bells and Lisa struggles to keep her balance from the unyielding sound wave the grandfather clock created. Every new chime from the clock is more deafening and each wave it creates is stronger and tougher to withstand then the last. Lisa feels that, to stop the agonizing bells, she must get to the clock. And so she tries.

     With all of the thrust she could muster, Lisa darts towards the clock. Another bell chimes and she is abruptly held back by the wave as if a strong wind is keeping her from moving forward and falling. The wave passes and she sprints again as the ninth sound wave comes and stops her from moving. She notices her legs getting wet and looks down to see water up to her knees. This makes it even harder for her to move towards the clock. But because she feels she cannot withstand another shockwave from the clock she dashes as fast as she possibly can. Before she makes it, though, the tenth chime goes off and she sinks up to her chest.

     The clock is so close now that Lisa reaches to touch it. Everything is trying to stop her from coming in contact with the clock, with time. The wind is blowing hard, the water is pushing her away, and her clothes are dragging behind her. She reaches as far as possible and, just as her finger is but a centimeter away, the eleventh bell goes off. Immediately, Lisa falls under the water and sinks fast. She wonders why she is sinking so rapidly and as she struggles to look down she observes a rope tied about her ankle and at the end of that rope is the clock. She reaches for the surface and tries to pump her arms and legs but the clock is too heavy and she is too tired.

     The twelfth chime rings and a wave of blackness and nothingness hastily approaches her. The clock bursts and the rope disintegrates as the wave touches them. With the weight of the clock gone from her foot she tries to swim back up to the surface and nearly makes it. With the last ounce of energy she ruptures the water surface with her hand but does not make it in time. The void engulfs her and Lisa is suddenly awoken from her sleep.

     She turns her alarm off and rolls over to a notebook on her nightstand. She opens to a new page and writes down every detail she can retain from her dream. Feeling satisfied she closes the book and gets out of bed. Walking into the kitchen she looks at the clock on her wall. At that exact moment the clock falls loose and crashes onto the floor. Lisa jumps from the startle and stares blinking at the clock for what seems like a long while.
After standing, staring, at the broken clock she finally realizes why she despises her dreams. It is because she has yet to face time itself and knows that it rules her every move.

Description
     Lisa is studying for her major in psychology. She feels that her experience and long, terrifying nights as a dreaming child could be a useful ground to start examining hers and other’s psyche. But even though she is interested in dreams and how they interpret she is petrified of ever having one.

     With a long day of classes ahead of her, Lisa feels she must get her rest. She dresses for bed and lies down. Her eyes, dreary and heavy, fall closed and Lisa quickly enters her slumber. All around her, on the walls and the ceiling, are many, woven, dream catchers. Some say she is obsessed or wholly apprehensive but to Lisa they are just a step of cautiousness. Despite the large number of dream catchers she has Lisa enters a dream.

     When one dreams they know not what will happen next nor can they control the way the dream lays out. One cannot voluntarily move ones arm or walk a certain way. One cannot say a certain thing or wake up at an optimistic time. They must sit, or rather lie, through it and deal with what happens to them. Most of what happens in dreams is not what one would necessarily want to happen and when woken up the person may feel uneasy. This is not the case with good dreams, however. Now, because of these facts, dreams are an unknown realm that many people, not unlike Lisa, enjoy studying.

     There are many types of dreams. Of course there is the elusive good dream and the more common and notorious nightmares. Often times one will be searching for something in a dream or possibly lost from something. Another sort of dream is one of romance. This is the type that most people wish they had but, because of its bliss and occasional nudity, those sorts of dreams are rare. Every now and then dreams make very little sense to the subject and are, therefore, forgotten when they wake up. As for Lisa, she makes it a purpose of hers to record every dream she may have. And the dream she is having now is one she will not quickly forget.

     It is the type of dream she fears most. Not a bloodcurdling one but rather a bone-chilling, cliffhanger-ending type. It started with a white room filled a few feet high with fog and Lisa was in the center wearing a simple, lilac nightgown. She could hear a faint ticking and turned quickly towards the source of the sound. It was an average-sized, grandfather clock. The ticking, Lisa observed, seemed rather slow and almost too faint as she was rather close to the clock. The clock then drifts away as if the pull of gravity no longer has its grips on it. Just as suddenly Lisa is transported to a new location.

     She now finds herself in her apartment. All of the rooms are empty except for every clock she owns. All of them are ticking loudly and consistently except for the grandfather clock from earlier, which still ticks rather slowly but this time it seems louder then before. For some reason, Lisa feels she must approach the clock and so she does. The clock slowly drifts away again and so she grabs for it and falls. She does not hit the floor though. Instead she carries through it and finds herself falling.

     This new place is odd to her. It is too dark to see anything but she can feel something odd and enthralling. It is the feeling of wind passing fast through her hair and on her bare face, neck and arms. There is also a feeling of buoyancy in her stomach. A light flickers on the walls surrounding her and she observes her location. She is currently falling through a dark well enclosed with brick, circular walls. Another light flickers and she sees the grandfather clock ahead of her. Lisa then detects the ticking of the clock, which had slipped her notice before due to the fall she is experiencing. The ticking is now faster and louder, almost past the normal rate. One more light flickers and, as she once again reaches for the clock, it disappears.

     The sun is setting over an ocean and Lisa is now standing on top of the water. The clock is ahead of her and ticking rapidly and at full volume. Her current heart rate didn’t seem to differ much from the uniformity of the clock. She wonders what to do next. If she chases the clock, it will immediately disappear again and she feels she needs to touch it, to grasp it. The urge she is having is one almost too unbearable for as patient a person as Lisa. She needs to hold herself back with all strength and will.

     Lisa turns her head in every direction and sees no sign of land. She looks down at her feet, which are lightly grazing the surface of the water, and spots several fish. The clock then suddenly struck its bells and Lisa struggles to keep her balance from the unyielding sound wave the grandfather clock created. Every new chime from the clock is more deafening and each wave it creates is stronger and tougher to withstand then the last. Lisa feels that, to stop the agonizing bells, she must get to the clock. And so she tries.

     With all of the thrust she could muster, Lisa darts towards the clock. Another bell chimes and she is abruptly held back by the wave as if a strong wind is keeping her from moving forward and falling. The wave passes and she sprints again as the ninth sound wave comes and stops her from moving. She notices her legs getting wet and looks down to see water up to her knees. This makes it even harder for her to move towards the clock. But because she feels she cannot withstand another shockwave from the clock she dashes as fast as she possibly can. Before she makes it, though, the tenth chime goes off and she sinks up to her chest.

     The clock is so close now that Lisa reaches to touch it. Everything is trying to stop her from coming in contact with the clock, with time. The wind is blowing hard, the water is pushing her away, and her clothes are dragging behind her. She reaches as far as possible and, just as her finger is but a centimeter away, the eleventh bell goes off. Immediately, Lisa falls under the water and sinks fast. She wonders why she is sinking so rapidly and as she struggles to look down she observes a rope tied about her ankle and at the end of that rope is the clock. She reaches for the surface and tries to pump her arms and legs but the clock is too heavy and she is too tired.

     The twelfth chime rings and a wave of blackness and nothingness hastily approaches her. The clock bursts and the rope disintegrates as the wave touches them. With the weight of the clock gone from her foot she tries to swim back up to the surface and nearly makes it. With the last ounce of energy she ruptures the water surface with her hand but does not make it in time. The void engulfs her and Lisa is suddenly awoken from her sleep.

     She turns her alarm off and rolls over to a notebook on her nightstand. She opens to a new page and writes down every detail she can retain from her dream. Feeling satisfied she closes the book and gets out of bed. Walking into the kitchen she looks at the clock on her wall. At that exact moment the clock falls loose and crashes onto the floor. Lisa jumps from the startle and stares blinking at the clock for what seems like a long while.
After standing, staring, at the broken clock she finally realizes why she despises her dreams. It is because she has yet to face time itself and knows that it rules her every move.