A sharp scream sliced the icy evening air. Jane jerked awake gasping for breath.
“What was that”!
Fighting to recall where she was and why she was there Jane fell back against the pillows and warily sought to remember the dream. Moving furtively through her thoughts, she willed herself to focus on the series of letters that danced tauntingly on the edge of her consciousness. What was that word? Intuitively Jane knew she must remember.
Desperate to solve the riddle, but reluctant to evoke the terror it inspired; she closed her eyes and willed herself to concentrate. ‘It began with an E, there was an A and a U and an N… Enu…. Ebau’ the word still would not take recognisable form. And yet… the feeling it represented was an almost tangible presence. It was a malevolent force, a monster that sucked the life from its victims.
Shivering, Jane rose gracefully from her bed and moved toward the desk. The familiar Windows chime welcomed her while the light from the screen valiantly repelled the night shadows. Tonight the red, blue, green and yellow Google letters wore a beige and black Hounds Tooth print scarf and sported a Dear Stalker hat.
“Well Sherlock, it seems I really need your help tonight’
Which growing confidence, Jane started punching in the letters she had seen. E, U, N, B, I. Nothing, at least nothing useful, she kept searching.
Anubis – The Greek god of the afterlife
Enuki – Powerful Babylonian Earth spirits
Although both words could have represented the force that woke her, Jane wasn’t sure that was what she had seen. At least, as she spent time thinking about what it may have been and reflecting on why she dreamed of a word she had never consciously seen, a warm reassuring confidence banished the lingering feelings of dread. Whatever it was, Jane knew she was able to fight it. Jane knew that by being consciously aware, she could beat it.
A month later, Jane was reading a news article and recognition flooded through her. There it was in black and white! The word. Ennui. She Googled it. Ennui, “weariness and discontent resulting from satiety or lack of interest; boredom”
Realisation surged like an electric current, infusing very pore. That was the malevolent force! The negativity and resentment which clocked itself in disinterest and boredom. Jane realised her dream had been a message from deep within herself. A wake up call. Jane knew that by being consciously aware, she could beat it. Jane decided, she would not be a victim.