This isn't a Dream.

I never really liked it when it was sunny outside. I like it when it's cloudy, foggy, or night time.

I know the sun's important and all, but the night is so much more beautiful. As I sit on the deck of this tanker, I think back to three days ago. When it all started. It always starts the same. It's nighttime, I'm in my house, alone. It's lightning outside. There's glass on the floor. The window's broken. The room's dark, I can't see anything. The lightning flashes, there's someone in front of me. I don't know them. Then I wake up. I get up and walk to the bathroom, look at my reflection. I reach out and touch my reflection. "This isn't a dream." I say to myself. I have a doctor's appointment at 2:00 p.m. I go with my mom.

"So,' she starts, 'me and your father have been planning to go up to Oklahoma for the past week and we just wanna lay down some ground rules." "Mom, I can be home by myself." "I know, but I need to make sure you know what to do. If there's a knock on the door, look to see who's there, if it's a mail carrier or delivery man, don't open it. Make sure all the doors and windows are locked at all times. If you hear someone break in, run upstairs to our room, lock the door, go over to your father's side of the bed.." I interrupt. "Get his pistol, make sure it's loaded, go over my side, turn off the safety.." "Aim at the door and ask who's there, if they start beating on the door, pull the trigger. It's self defense if they're trying to attack you." "Can't I just call the police?" "Call them once you're in the room."

We enter the doctor's office, nothing fancy, just a couple chairs, plastic floor plants and a flat-screen tv on the wall. Once they call me back, I enter a hallway with multiple rooms. The scale and height chart are out against the wall. Height and weight are normal. I go into one of the rooms and sit on that bed thing with the paper on it. The doctor comes in. There's the general small talk, then she examines me. I'm not really fond of getting my heart listened to. The doctor's hands and the stethoscope are cold as ice. Sometimes, I press my hand to my chest and feel it myself. I wondered what would happen if it skipped a beat. "You're scheduled for blood work, but we can do it next time if you want." I hate getting my blood drawn, but I figured I might as well, get it done today. No point in delaying it. The needle pierces my vein, I watch my blood flow into the tube. A deep, dark red. We head home once I'm all patched up.

"The storm's coming from the south, so we be good," my dad says. My mom puts her bags in the car. "We'll be back in 3 days. Remember what I said. Stay safe." I close the door behind them as the garage door goes down. Lucky and Lady, my dogs, are huddled near the door. Lady's just a plain black terrier, and Lucky's a black and white beagle. They're both pretty fat, then again, who's fault is that? I wasn't exactly excited for tonight. The dogs get completely freaked out during thunderstorms. If only they liked it, like me. By 9:00 pm, the storms arrived, the winds are howling, rain floods the street. I decided to go to bed early, the rain made me relaxed and kind of sleepy. I text my mom telling her, I'm going to bed, she responds with a "okay. good night." I toss my phone on my bed and head into the bathroom. Even in the shower, the thunder's loud. I hear my dogs barking downstairs, I'll deal with them as soon as I'm out. The thunder booms again, even louder than before. I turn off the water and step out of the shower.

Something's off. The dogs aren't barking as loudly as before, I can barely hear them. Once, I'm dressed, I head downstairs to see what's up. I see the dogs in their kennel, they looked spooked. I don't remember putting them in there. I open the kennel door, and let them out. If there's someone in here, they'll let me know for sure. I know I should've run out of the house, but the storm, at this point, out of control. With the dogs by my side, I enter the living room. Just then, the power goes out. I curse under my breath. The only light coming is from the lightning outside. The dogs are still huddled near my legs. I got to get my phone. But I don't know if there's someone else in here or not. A soft thud pulls me out of my thoughts. Something landed on the couch. I creep over to the couch, just then the lightning strikes again. Just enough light to see my phone on the couch. I gulp and reach down to grab it. The battery's not in it. My heart's pounding now.

The dogs leave my side, they bark into the darkness. They're at the garage door. My minds racing, should I run? Or should I grab the dogs and dragged them to the front door? It happened so fast, the door opened and pulling both dogs into garage. I scream and run towards the door, I couldn't bring myself to just leave them behind. The door slams in my face, I hear them barking and whining. "Don't hurt them! Don't hurt my dogs, please!" I cry at the top of my lungs. The door won't budge, something's behind it. I remembered the gun, but at this point, I know, at least two people in the house. And I don't know where the other is. I find out pretty quick.

A hand clamps around my jaw. An arm wraps around me. I struggle to no avail. A low hiss in my ear, before something tears into the side of my neck. The pain's one I can't describe. My blood went everywhere. I fall to floor, the last thing I hear are the dogs. Then it all goes black. I wake up on a bed. The walls are wooden, the carpet, navy. I look around before getting up. "How did….where am I?" I put my hand to chest. Nothing. I walk into the small bathroom. There's a mirror, when I face it, I freeze. I touch the mirror, but there's no reflection. I look down at my shirt, it's covered my blood. "This isn't a dream."

As I sit on the deck of ship, I'm relieved to know that Lucky and Lady are okay. Animal blood's not really appealing. I guess I did save them in a way. If there's one thing I don't miss, it's the Sun. It's not so bad. Remember, I never really the sun anyway.