5 Minute Fiction: A Nightmare Semester

Photo: © difughtt | Depositphotos.com

Note: This is a work of fan fiction and is intended only for fun and the joy of creative writing exercises. 

It had been a good Halloween. The kids had had fun, I had had fun, and my husband also had fun. We had dressed up as a family as the ingredients for smores. It had been my youngest's idea. The kids were chocolate and marshmallow, and Brian and I were two graham crackers.

"Crackin' costume, Beth," Brian had said, attempting a Dad joke that I wasn't sure was successful, even for a Dad joke, but I laughed.

Pulling down the blankets, I climbed into bed, turned off the light on the nightstand, and snuggled into sleep…

I am seated at a desk in a classroom with other students around me. My best friend from fifth grade, Susan and Jeremy from work, my grumpy neighbor on the corner with the small ever-barking dog, and then about five or six friends from my college days, among others.

We are waiting for the teacher to arrive so we can take an exam, and I am nervous about passing.

A sense of relief washes over me as the door opens. The teacher has arrived, and I can get this over with. But as my nerves mellow out, a spike of fear jolts through me when I see only a red and brown striped sleeve and a glove with blades for fingers.

There is a commotion in the classroom as students jump up from their desks and try to escape, but I'm a little lost in the chaos. Instead of running, I am frozen at my desk.

Freddy turns the corner and is now in the middle of the doorframe, burned flesh underneath his fedora, eyes wide with murderous insanity and a stance that indicates he is coming for all of us.

With a scream stuck in my throat, I try to jump and run, but my legs will not work. I am the only one who has not moved; he is coming for me, blades out.

Down my row of desks, he moves like an animal, screeching, and hissing, and when he gets to me, he raises his arm, blades glinting. I close my eyes and wait for the pain.

And then I realize that I haven’t been to class all semester.

Freddy still stands before me, growling and threatening me with his sharp talons, but now I'm worried I will fail.

I can’t even remember the last time I was here. Had I made even one class? Or is this the first time I’m showing up?

I haven't done any of the assignments, no reading, no tests, or quizzes. And it's almost the end of the semester. Oh, I am definitely going to fail.

And my mother will be so disappointed in me.

Freddy seems deflated. He closes his mouth and stands up straighter, lowering his arm. I'm no longer afraid of being slashed open as I try to recount the times before this when I made it to class.

Is it too late to try and make up the work?

This was the last class I needed for my degree, and now I’m not going to graduate. Where was I all semester?

Freddy backs up as if he’s losing interest and looks disappointed. He tries one more growl.

"Do you think I can eke this out?" I ask him out of desperation. "Is there any way I can pass the class at this point?"

He looks at me with disgust, huffs out a breath, and walks away. He disappears before he reaches the door.

“I’ll take that as a no,” I say to no one in particular, accepting my fate.

Sunlight streamed in through my bedroom window as I opened my eyes. And to my instant relief, I hadn’t failed anything. A moment later, I chuckled a little as I remembered that Freddy Krueger had been my teacher.

I laid there for ten minutes or so, enjoying the still and quiet of the morning, and then pushed back the blankets.

Sitting up and putting my legs over the side of the bed, I sat for a moment and glanced to my left.

There, in the sheet, was a clean tear as if someone had cut it with a sharp knife, and my throat constricted with a silent scream as I wondered what tonight’s dream would bring.

Amanda Linehan is a multi-genre fiction writer and indie author. She has published 13 titles since 2012. For more flash fiction from Amanda, check out Writing on the Walls 1 and Writing on the Walls 2 in the "retired stories" section of her Ko-fi bookstore, where you can "pay what you want."