Anna Thompson suddenly woke up and opened her eyes. Outside the window, dawn was just beginning to glow. She picked up the alarm clock, which wasn’t even close to ringing. Then she sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed her temples with her fingers. Once again, she had woken up at the crack of dawn.
Anna slipped her feet into warm house slippers and threw on a robe. Quietly, so as not to wake her husband and children, she shuffled to the kitchen. While pouring hot tea into a large mug, she noticed her hands were trembling again. She took a deep breath, trying to pull herself together. Her nerves were frayed, and from her own sense of helplessness, she was on the verge of tears. The situation was taking an unexpected turn—she had practically stopped sleeping, feeling constantly exhausted and broken.
It all started a month and a half ago. As an experienced lawyer, Anna was providing legal assistance in a criminal case for a rather lucrative client. That evening, he called her after ten o’clock.
— Anna Thompson, I’m sorry for calling so late. I urgently need your advice.
The case was far from simple, and she spoke with him until midnight.
Fatigue and nervous tension took their toll. She barely made it to the couch, and as soon as her head hit the pillow, she fell into a deep sleep…
Anna was running down a winding forest path. The forest in her dream was nothing like the one where people pick berries or mushrooms. It was eerie and terrifying, like something out of a horror movie. The moon illuminated the path leading to her home, but suddenly she realized she had lost her way and couldn’t find the right road.
The trees ahead grew taller and began to close in like a dark wall. She screamed and started running in the opposite direction. Suddenly, a dark silhouette flickered behind the trees. Overwhelmed by fear that gripped her from head to toe, she couldn’t move. Her legs felt rooted to the ground.
The silhouette quickly approached the terrified woman, morphing into a blurry, incomprehensible creature. Anna tried with all her might to run, but her legs, heavy as cotton, refused to obey. When the phantom attacked her from behind, she screamed in sheer terror and woke up.
Her scream woke her husband too. He stared at her, then at the alarm clock, utterly confused.
— You scared me to death! What’s wrong?
She shook her head, trying to shake off the remnants of the nightmare.
— Go back to sleep, it was just a bad dream, — her husband turned away and was snoring again within a minute.
In the morning, as she went about her daily routine, Anna almost forgot about the nightmare.
But gradually, the dream turned into an obsession. The poor woman saw it more and more often. In the last week, it had repeated every night. Anna woke up screaming, drenched in cold sweat, unable to fall back asleep until morning.
She started taking sleeping pills, but they didn’t help—there was no effect. She became afraid to go to bed at night. The constant lack of sleep led to problems at work. She was losing clients one after another, unable to focus or grasp the details of their cases.
Her boss had called her into his office twice, issuing a serious warning. Because of her lack of focus, the firm had suffered unimaginable losses. But what was worse was her realization of her own decline and worthlessness. She, a highly skilled professional, was gradually turning into a useless amateur. Without rest, her brain was malfunctioning and refusing to work.
Anna started getting irritated over trivial things, taking out her frustration on colleagues and family. Her dreams came in bursts, lasting five to ten minutes.
— I’m going to lose my mind! There has to be some way out of this, — she complained to her best friend, Emily. — If this doesn’t stop, I could lose my job and my family. I’m lashing out at everyone like a lunatic.
Her friend shook her head sympathetically.
— You need to see a specialist, Anna. You can’t handle this on your own.
— I’ve already been to a neurologist. I even went to a sleep center, where they used equipment to study all my sleep phases. I slept there for a whole day, but the diagnostics showed no hidden changes in my brain function. I even have the report. I’m scared, but now my only option is a psychotherapist—or worse, a psychiatrist, — Anna broke down in bitter tears.
Her family only added fuel to the fire. Her husband was getting annoyed that she was keeping him awake. She had to move to the living room couch. Then, over dinner, her daughter came up with a new idea.
— Mommy, watch this interesting show with me on the laptop. We spend so little time together. There’s a psychic on it.
She placed the laptop on the table in front of Anna.
— Mom, why don’t we go see him? Look, his rates are reasonable, and he won the latest big TV show, — her daughter urged.
Anna looked at her wearily. — She’s grown up, yet so naive. — The last thing I need is charlatans and scammers.
The final straw came when Anna nearly got into an accident. That’s when she knew she had to do something. She fell asleep at the wheel while driving for an urgent errand. She barely opened her eyes half a meter from a truck. Miraculously, they avoided a collision, but the truck driver sent a long honk her way, like a bouquet of unspoken curses.
That was it! Enough! She needed a psychotherapist.
The next day, on a former client’s recommendation, she found a specialist and called. The first session was scheduled for Monday, and they discussed the cost. The doctor’s name was Dr. William Carter. From his photo, he appeared to be an older man of refined appearance, with a neat gray beard and glasses.
Anna was very nervous.
— What if there really are skeletons in my closet?
But she was ready for any experiment just to uncover the cause of her condition.
Dr. William Carter saw patients at his home. At 10:00 a.m., Anna stood at the door of a modern high-rise building in downtown Chicago. She quickly found the right entrance and apartment.
What happened next reminded her of a popular foreign movie. A short man with gray hair and a beard, wearing large glasses, greeted her at the door and courteously led her to his home office.
— Even the couch is similar, with green upholstery and dark patterns, — Anna thought to herself, smiling.
The psychotherapist seemed to emulate his foreign colleagues in every way. From the first minutes of their conversation, Anna realized her doubts were unfounded—this was a competent psychologist. Dr. Carter asked simple questions unobtrusively, and soon she was sharing her deepest thoughts with him.
She couldn’t recall how long the conversation lasted. Suddenly, her temples buzzed, her eyelids grew heavy, and she fell into a deep sleep. The nervous tension and chronic insomnia had taken their toll.
Dr. Carter reached out to wake her and continue the session. But then she began speaking softly and indistinctly. The doctor quickly turned on his recorder and started capturing her monologue. He waited with interest for a repeat of the nightmare she had described.
Sitting nearby, he closely observed her sleeping face. She slept for about an hour, then suddenly groaned and began to twitch restlessly. Her mouth twisted in a silent scream, she opened her eyes abruptly, and bolted upright from the couch.
— I’m sorry, I fell asleep somehow. I don’t understand how it happened, — she said, looking at the doctor with frightened eyes.
Dr. Carter placed his hand on hers, calming her. He brewed a cup of herbal tea and handed it to her.
— Don’t worry. Everything’s fine now. It was just a dream. — Ten minutes later, he was seeing his now-calmer patient out.
— I look forward to our next psychotherapy session. I believe I’ll be able to identify the cause of your condition and prescribe the necessary treatment by then.
Dr. Carter handed her coat from the rack and bowed courteously.
A challenging task awaited him. He needed to review the recording and pinpoint the root of her problem. He was certain the answer lay there.
With over twenty years of experience, the specialist wasn’t mistaken. He listened to her indistinct muttering multiple times. Suddenly, his face lit up, he removed his glasses, and wiped their foggy lenses. In the kitchen, he leisurely brewed mint tea and called Anna.
— Hello, dear. I’d like to see you tomorrow at five sharp. I’ve figured out the issue and will guide you on where to start.
Anna was intrigued. She eagerly awaited the next evening. Ten minutes before the appointed time, she was already at the psychotherapist’s door. She nearly bumped into a patient leaving and rushed inside.
— What is it, Doctor? Don’t keep me waiting, I’m at my wit’s end.
Dr. Carter smiled and invited her to the kitchen for a traditional cup of herbal tea before leading her to his office.
— Yesterday, you didn’t mention your relationship with your father. But I have reason to believe your nightmares are tied to that part of your mind.
His words upset Anna. She didn’t want to reopen old wounds or discuss her unresolved resentment toward her father.
— What are you implying? — she frowned, setting her empty cup on the table with a sharp motion.
Dr. Carter looked at her intently.
— Don’t be upset. Just answer honestly: when was the last time you saw your parents?
Anna looked down, embarrassed.
— It’s been a long time. My mother passed away twenty-five years ago. And my father… — she nervously fidgeted with the edge of her scarf. — Are you saying I should call him?
The doctor shook his head.
— No, dear. You need to visit him.
Anna returned home feeling upset. She had stopped getting along with her father after her mother’s death. He became a tyrant, forbidding her from meeting classmates and controlling her every move. He even banned her from attending prom in the short dress her mother had given her.
Now, with children of her own, she partly understood his concern. But as a teenager, it felt like a betrayal by the person closest to her. After graduating, she simply ran away from home—anywhere, as far as she could go.
In the city, she enrolled in a university’s law program, her excellent grades paving the way. After graduating, she found a good job and established herself as a promising professional. Life went on—marriage, children, a successful career.
All those years, she hadn’t thought about how her father was doing.
Their relationship had ended, left in the past. Visiting him now felt like a knife to her heart. What if he was no longer alive? But her desire to be free of the nightmares won out.
She took unpaid leave from work and began preparing for the trip.
It was a long journey with transfers. She took a train to a small regional town, then a bus to the village. She didn’t enjoy traveling, but she noticed she slept peacefully to the rhythm of the train’s wheels.
Anna looked around the village where she spent her childhood. Over the years, it had changed significantly. A flood of memories made her heart ache.
She walked down the street on unsteady legs, shrinking under the curious glances of locals. There was the house, painfully familiar. God, how terrifying it was to take that first step. She stood for a moment, brushed a chestnut strand from her forehead, and resolutely opened the gate.
Her gaze lingered on the neglected, weed-choked front yard and the rotting, sagging porch steps. A terrible thought pierced her heart. No, her father was a true homeowner; he couldn’t have let the house fall into such disrepair.
— He’s gone! I’m too late! — She pushed open the unlocked door and entered.
— Mary? Help me up, I need to step outside, — a faint male voice came from the room.
Anna dropped her bag on the floor and hurried to help. There, she saw a heartbreaking sight. Her father lay hunched on the bed, covered with an old, tattered blanket. On the bedside table was a pile of pills and a large, chipped mug with cold tea. The old man turned his head and squinted at the visitor.
— Who are you? The doctor? Where’s Mary? — he choked on a dry cough.
Anna cried out and rushed to embrace him.
— Dad, it’s me! Your daughter, Anna, — she said. The old man’s face crumpled, and tears rolled down his wrinkled cheeks.
— I waited… Anna, my dear girl.
Through her tears, Anna looked at his trembling, frail hands and felt like the worst person alive.
— How could I forget and abandon my own father over a childish grudge? When did my heart grow so cold? — Her conscience stabbed her like a sharp sword. She pressed his gray head to her chest with both hands.
— Forgive me, if you can, your foolish daughter. Dad, please forgive me. I can’t bear to see your tears. I promise I’ll make it right.
Anna brought her father to the city. She found the best hospital and top doctors. Within a month, he had fully recovered and regained his strength. He didn’t want to stay in the city. Anna hired builders, and within a month, the village house was renovated. During that time, her father bonded with his grandchildren and son-in-law. As they say, “No good came without some bad to push it along!”
They said goodbye with tears—Anna cried, her children cried.
— Come visit us, and we’ll come see you too, — she handed him a mobile phone. — Call us, the kids showed you how to use it, right?
Her elderly father gently patted her head.
— Don’t worry. We’ll always be together now and won’t lose each other again.
Anna nodded in agreement. They hugged before he boarded the train, helping him with his bags and into the carriage.
They stood on the platform for a long time, watching the train disappear. That night, Anna had her nightmare again.
She was running through an enchanted, swaying forest. Moonlight filtered through the strange thicket. She knew what would happen next, as if starring in her own movie. Watching herself from the outside, she began to understand many details.
Countless paths twisted beneath her feet, but she stubbornly headed toward a dark swamp. Suddenly, she saw the black shadow, which began to transform before her eyes. But this time, it wasn’t formless—it quickly took the shape of a man. She recognized her father, and the phantom no longer seemed so terrifying.
He approached swiftly, blocking her path to the swamp. He found her by an old, sprawling pine, embraced her, and pulled her in another direction. As they left the forest, Anna squinted at the bright light, screamed, and woke up.
She ran her hand over her face, wiping away tears of relief, and glanced at the ringing alarm clock. With a sense of calm, Anna realized the terrible nightmare would never return.
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