My parents left that night for business purposes, so I had the entire house to myself. Of course, I used this as my chance to finally raid the snack drawer that Mom and Dad never let me open. I ran to the kitchen and grabbed anything and everything I could fit in my arms. I took the snacks to my room and hid under the blanket fort I had made earlier that day. I watched TV as I snuggled up in my blankets, occasionally munching on the snacks.

I can’t recall exactly how much time had passed, but when I got up to look out my window it was dark. I felt a small breeze against my arm and shivered. I looked to see my window cracked open, which was weird because it was the middle of winter, so why would I leave my window open? I brushed it off as just me being forgetful and closed the window. I went back to my fort, when I noticed my TV making a weird buzzing noise. “Hm, it’s never done that before,” I thought to myself. Again, I brushed it off and continued watching some of my favorite shows. Not even an hour went by before I noticed the noise getting louder. At that point, I was just getting annoyed, so I shut it off and went downstairs.

I took a nice, warm shower, then returned to my room to water a few of the plants sitting on my desk. I watered them as I normally would, and crawled back under my blanket fort. I watched as the screen on my TV flashed, the buzzing noise returning a third time. I was now getting freaked out, and out of impulse I quickly yanked the TV chord out of the wall. It kept flashing, but this time I could hear what sounded to be whispers. “No, no, no, no…” it kept repeating, the whispers soon turning into shouts. I felt my entire body nearly going into shock. I tried standing up, but it was like a greater force was preventing me from doing so.

A hand reached out from the screen, grabbing me by the ankle. I let out an ear-piercing scream, one only able to come from adrenaline. I tried fighting back, but I was losing. My body was being pulled toward the TV and before me was a light so bright it didn’t feel real. The light started taking over, and I felt a weird warmth take over. Then, it all stopped. I felt stiff and uncomfortable. My eyes shot open, and I looked around my room in a panic. I was covered in sweat from head to toe, and I was gasping for air. My mom stood at the foot of my bed with a concerned look.

“Honey, are you okay?” she asked.

I nodded as I finally came to understand that it was just a dream.