NIGHTMARES OF THE DEAD 5 , a short story by actung. Date added: 2011-06-26. Times viewed: 844.
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- Intro: The series comes to an end,
The nightmares were getting worse and becoming more frequent. It was getting so bad that Felicity was not getting much more than an hours sleep at a time. They were tearing her apart. If the dreams themselves weren't bad enough there was the exhaustion from the lack of sleep and then there was her work, trying to hold down a job and caring for her just under one year old daughter too.
The dreams themselves involved Felicity's own daughter Sinead. In reality Sinead was not yet one year old but in the dreams she was no more than ten years old and as well as that she was also dead. The thought that her daughter would not live passed ten broke her heart and also played a huge part in what was tearing her apart.
Felicity could take it for granted that her nightmares were, are a reality, a future reality. Ever since the visit she received by the man from the dark side she felt that she had a decision to make. A decision she didn't want to make. A decision which would mean either her daughter would become a lost soul taken to spend eternity in hell or a soul collector, arranging for the newly deceased to become lost then lead them to the dungeons of darkness to awake their final journey to the burning depths of hell. One thing that Felicity couldn't figure out was why it was only her daughter she was dreaming of. Where would Felicity herself be in nine to ten years time? In Felicity's first dream, Sinead was looking for her before being taken and in her second dream Sinead lead a stranger to the dungeons by asking him to help her find her mommy.
From the third dream onwards the nightmares continued in the same vein as the second one. A ten year old Sinead would lead a newly lost soul to the dungeons of the underworld. None of these souls would have made it to the dungeons on their own accord. Felicity didn’t want this to be in her daughter’s future, no mother would.
The best place Felicity could think of to start some course of change for the future was the local parish church, which was also the place where Sinead was christened. She met with Father Evans. Father Evans saw Felicity’s situation as a challenge, good versus evil, a battle with which he was going to help Felicity and her daughter win.
One of the first offering made to Felicity and Sinead from Father Evans was a prayer. A prayer to Saint Anthony, St. Anthony of course being the patron saint of lost things or more importantly of lost souls. It would be a prayer Felicity would tell her daughter each any every night and when Sinead was old enough, her mum had her memorize. The prayer is as follows:
Prayer to Saint Anthony of Padua
Good St. Anthony, you were ever blessed with a deep affection for our Lady, Queen of Heaven. Help me to imitate your own dedication to the Mother of God. May the holy Virgin protect me amid the perils of life; assist me in my present need, and at the hour of death. Please offer in her honor the prayers I make to you as well as those the children of our Franciscan missions offer for me.
Pray the Our Father
Pray the Hail Mary
Pray the Glory BeOver the years that followed Father Evans provided whatever he could to Felicity and Sinead who both wore St Anthony medallions. Right up to and through Felicity’s sickness Father Evans was there. Cancer would get the better of Felicity who succumbed to her illness on the day of Sinead’s tenth birthday. This would also be the day when Satan would collect on something he laid a claim to many years earlier.
Felicity passed away in a hospital bed on the day of her daughter’s tenth birthday. Her soul, her spirit left the bed her body lay in and she made her way out into the hallway where her daughter Sinead sat waiting. Felicity firstly felt upset at the fact that she is leaving her daughter behind, and then she felt shock when Sinead looked right at her. ‘Mommy’ cried Sinead who ran right to her. Felicity was really surprised that not only could her daughter see her but she could hold her too. When their embrace came to an end Sinead held out her hand and both mother and daughter went for a walk. Their surrounding darkened and became damp. They walked amongst a gathering of souls and became separated. Sinead called out for her mother and Felicity called out for her daughter but they were never to be reunited for the night Satan visited Felicity all those years ago he laid a claim to Sinead in the event of her mothers death. Felicity never knew this and now it was time for him to collect. Sinead’s complexion changed becoming dull and grey and she would now roam the dungeons of the underworld and beyond in search of her mother innocently collecting souls along the way….
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