"AHHHHH!" a young grey troll suddenly screamed, sitting straight up in his bed as he panted heavily, looking around his room in fear, sweat dripping down his face.

     He wiped his forehead with his sleeve, as a quiet moan suddenly sounded from above him.

     With a slight gasp, the grey troll looked up, seeing a tired face looking down at him.

     "Again?" the face grumbled, reaching up to rub it's eyes sleepily.

     The grey troll sighed, looking away sadly as his ears drooped.

     "Sorry, Kaitlynn..." he mumbled softly, slightly embarrassed for having woken up his roommate. Again...

Suddenly, the light in the hallway flicked on, the bedroom door swinging open with a 'whoosh!'

     "What on earth is going on in here?" an older lime green troll with blue hair shouted, her hands on her hips, and face covered in a dark green avocado face mask.

"Sorry, Mrs. Laevile," the two young trolls said simultaneously, looking up at her respectfully.

"Ugh! I can't see a thing!" she yelled out in anger, ripping the cucumbers off of her eyes.

Once she could see, she looked at the two children, a frustrated glare popping up onto her face.

     "Ugh. You again?" she growled angrily at seeing the all too familiar face of the grey troll. "Why is it always you, who wakes me up in the middle of the night!?"

The grey troll looked down at his hands, fiddling nervously with his fingers. He didn't  even answer the question that was asked. He was just too embarrassed.

     "It was... another nightmare," Kaitlynn said softly, answering the question for him.

"Another one!?" Mrs. Laevile yelled out angrily. "That's the sixth time this week! And it's only Tuesday!"

"Sorry, Mrs..." the grey troll mumbled, not even looking up at her.

"If you wake me up from my beauty sleep one more time..." She paused, and then turned, walking out of the room. "You'll be sorry."

She slammed the door shut, pieces of the popcorn ceiling falling down onto the floor, as the room shook rapidly. The house was a dump... there was no doubt about that... but it was the only place the children who lived there could call home...

     "Go back to sleep, Branch..." Kaitlynn finally said softly, as she lay back down in her bed.

The grey troll sighed, as he flopped down onto his back, his head slamming into his pillow, as feathers flew out from both sides of it.

He sighed again, rolling over onto his side, as he pulled the covers up to his neck, yawning before slowly falling back to sleep.

—————

     The next morning, Branch walked through the halls of the school like a zombie, half asleep, both of his eyes shut lightly. He hadn't really gotten any sleep the night before, his dreams getting worse and worse every time he tried to rest.

     He yawned, accidentally tripping and falling onto the floor, the young troll's books flying off in all different directions as he accidentally dropped them to the floor.

With a groan, he opened my eyes, looking at the mess.

"Great," he muttered softly to himself, beginning to gather up his books before standing back up with another yawn. This was going to be a looong day...

     Suddenly wide awake, he stared off into the distance, his eyes wide in terror. Turning the corner was his worst nightmare... Creek...