Nightmares

Not too long ago, Zachary woke up in the middle of the night screaming. I ran into his room and said, "What's up Winston? You okay?" The look of fear on his face spoke volumes; You left me alone, in the dark. And I'm scared.

I scooped my boy up into my arms and he immediately fell back to sleep. But as I rocked my baby in the wee hours of the night, I began to wonder:

Can a baby have a nightmare?

After a brief philosophical discussion with my wife, I have settled on the conclusion that if you are old enough to experience life, then you are old enough to have nightmares about it.

"What," I pondered at my slumbering son "could you possibly have nightmares about?"

Before the thought was completed in my mind, I imagined Zachary looking up at me and saying,

Daddy?
Do you remember when I was 8 months old and I accidentally broke your camera lens?
Do you remember how you yelled?
I felt so bad for making you angry and I was sorry for what I did
But it didn't matter
You yelled anyway
You kept yelling and yelling and after a while it was as if you weren't even angry about the lens, but something else all together

Why don't you write about those memories Dad?
Where are the photos of those moments?

"Well son," I whisper sadly
you don't need pictures or stories to remember those times
Those are the ones that are always there with you
Waiting to come out,
from hiding under the bed
or peeking from behind the closet
Whenever you're alone
In the dark
And scared