While we sleep

    This story is not quite a nightmare of mine. It is more like a question for you. A question that does not need an answer, but it makes us think. At least, it makes me think.

    Why do people fear the noises at night? You know... That little squeak on your floor, when you know there's no one there but you. The voices on the wall that may or maybe not from your neighbours. The drip on your bathroom or kitchen's tap, that you are certain that was not there minutes ago. Those steps, going up and down the stairs, outside your apartment, or even the leafs, in your house's garden, that were just cracked by something.

    Yes, those noises are terrifying, aren't they?

    Well... How about the silence? The quietness of the night when you finally fall asleep. Those squeaks, voices, drips, steps and cracks that, suddenly, are not there anymore? Or are they? You fell asleep. You don't even noticed that it's all so...quiet. Did you?

    And now... What is that tiny, almost unaudible little sound, that is so close to you? That whisper inside your head, when you wake up in the middle of the night, noticing that those noises are all gone?

    Oh... That my friend, is fear itself.