To preface this I started writing this last night between exhaustion fueled hallucinations and putting my toddler back to bed.
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Slipping back into reality the voices begin to fade. Their words disappear almost instantly, but the intent remains. What was it they said? What was my subconscious trying to make me recognize?
That thought too faded as I look around in the grey twilight that is my home. The fog of almost sleep begins to clear from my mind as I notice a face peering around the entry to my kitchen. When I tried to focus on it my new friend faded from view. I pondered the idea that maybe it wasn’t an exhaustion fueled hallucination, but the fact that something was actually lurking in my kitchen. If I were less tired I would gladly have let my imagination run wild with that and lead me to into the land of crushing, irrational fear. To my luck though, I was entirely too tired to care.
 The reason for my re-awakening looked at me from her spot on the couch. My little girl rubbed her eyes which made her golden brown curls bounce around her head. She was having a night where I couldn’t get her to sleep for more than an hour at a time without waking up. So to make it easier on everyone in my household I took her into the living room and let her sleep on the couch while I dozed in my arm chair. She looked around the gloom in much the same way I did before focusing on me, “Morning Dada.”
 I let out a sigh, “Honey, it isn’t morning yet. I need you to go back to sleep.” She blinked at me a couple times before lifting up her sippy cup and asking, “Dada, juice please?”
 How am I to argue with good manners? I got to my feet and walk into the kitchen. No one was waiting for me, sweet. I opened the fridge and pull out the apple juice and water and filled her cup. When I came back into the living room she is looking into the front entryway. I followed her line of site and for just a moment I catch something out of the corner of my vision. When I look at the shape directly I see nothing but the reflection of the cat’s eyes peering back at me. Whatever, as long as he wasn’t attacking my feet while I walked we are fine.
 I perch on the edge of the couch next to her and give her the cup. “Techu (thank you) Dada.” She says in a sleepy little voice and starts to lay down, but poped back up and points to the entryway. “Oh no Dada, Mon’ter has Shoofus!” I immediatelylooked back to see the cat, “Toothless”, had moved up to the edge of the carpet in the living room and was staring at us. I didn’t see anything out of place, but he obviously was focused on us. A little tickle of fear crawled up my spine and I did my best to quash it before it could take hold. It wasn’t too difficult to rationalize it, after all, my daughter and I chased “monsters” all the time when she played pretend. The fact that she talks about them at random times, and will often look around as if she is watching them moving was purely her imagination. Yeah, that makes sense. Just to be on the safe side I slid a little farther onto the couch and stretched out between her and the cat.
 “It’s ok Honey, Toothless is fine.” I reassured her and myself. “Now lay down and go back to sleep.”
 She yawned sleepily and finally lays back down. While she drank from her cup and slowly faded back off into dream land I watched the cat intently. He never blinks, or moves from his position while I look back. The fear had faded and the fog of sleepiness begins to coat my mind again. I don’t exactly remember when I fell back asleep but when I did the voices came back with a vengeance. I can’t recall what they were saying but the message was clearer this time. My brain screamed for me to wake up. When my body finally obliged me I was looking up at it.
 The formless mass of shadow stretched to something near eight feet tall and had two lidless, milky-white, eyes looking over me at my daughter. One limb was stretched over my chest and had almost reached my daughters face. Any fear thatmay have tried to blossom was burned away by a white hot rage. I reacted with primal instinct, wanting to inflict the most pain I possibly could by biting down into the limb. That is what I wanted, but my body refused to respond to any command I gave it. I couldn’t even scream.
 At this realization I also noticed that the thing was no longer focused on my daughter, but on me. The thing moved its limb to my head and as it grew closer I felt a pressure begin to build on the sensitive tissue of my sinuses and my eyes. I felt my consciousness start to fade, but as it did I remembered something. When I was younger I had dreams like this all the time, except in the dreams I couldn’t actually see what was pushing down on me. It was terrifying, but I remembered how I got rid of it before.
 I focused all my rage, newly budding fear, and will to protect my little girl into a single purpose. I forced my lungs and mouth to speak, “Let… me… go.” It came out as barely a whisper, each word requiring a breath of its own. Even with those tiny syllables I felt the weight begin to lift from my body.
 “Let me go!” I said again, in one breath at around my speaking voice level. I put an arm over my daughter and began forcing myself to sit up. The thing let out an audible hissing noise and began to recoil from me.
 “LET ME GO NOW!” I roared out at the top of my lungs, in my ears it didn’t even sound like my voice at all. I made it to my feet and reached out for the thing that was now moving across the room. I grabbed hold of what felt like Jell-O, but more solid to hold, yet fluid to the touch. I rode the thing to the ground and began tearing at it with hands, and teeth. It struggled under me but I refused to let up. I ripped and gouged and bit at the thing until it stopped hissing and seemed to melt away.
 On the floor next to the couch behind me I heard something stir. I snapped my head around to see what was there but all I saw was the cat pick its head up and look around bewildered. He sat there for a moment before doing what he is known for, flicking his ears back, freaking out about nothing, and rushing under my chair to hide.
 A moment later my wife and sister come out of their respective bedrooms and ask what happened. My daughter sees them and says, “Morning Mama! Morning Rebel!” With all the energy I previously had leaving my body I stand up shakily and tell them, “It was the wind. You guys are on baby duty now.” I stagger back to my bedroom and climb into bed. I reached the peaceful oblivion of sleep before my head ever hit the pillow.
