Nightmare on the Chickamauga

A few weeks ago I had this nightmare. It started out like a dream, I was on vacation with my friend Christen and her boyfriend Nick. We rented a cabin in Chickamauga, now I have never been there, but the place seemed so familiar & was absolutely beautiful. I don’t recall ever hearing of Chickamauga, but I must have read about it or at least seen the word somewhere. Anyway, I looked it up, and sure enough the place exists, which kind of freaked me out to be honest, but at the same time, it’s kind of cool.

I’ve been toying with the idea of turning this into an actual story, either a short story or a novel, I’m not sure which.

I thought I’d share the nightmare with you & get your thoughts. Do you think it would make for an interesting story?

Thanks in advance for your input!

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The Nightmare

I was sunbathing on the dock located on the Chickamauga Lake in Tennessee when Christen joined me, carrying a mimosa in each hand. It was mid-morning in July, we had decided to take a much needed vacation over the 4th. Nick was hanging out at the cabin, giving us some girl time. Anyway, it was really hot that day, in the high 90’s, but there was a nice breeze coming off of the lake, and since we were only wearing thin swimsuits, it wasn’t unbearable.

Christen and I were having the time of our lives, listening to music, basking in the sunlight, and talking and venting about anything and everything. I had just jumped into the lake when all of a sudden we heard a blood curdling scream come from out of the woods. I quickly turned towards the sound when a cold breeze blew across the water, the sun instantly went down, and everything turned black. I completely froze, something I tend to do whenever I am petrified, and I literally couldn’t see the water I was currently floating in. Christen kept yelling at me to get out of the water, but I was too afraid to move.

I started praying for the sun to come back out as Christen just kept yelling at me to get out of the water. A few more minutes passed before my prayers were finally answered. The breeze stopped, the sun came back out, and I could finally see the dock. I swam as fast as I could and Christen latched on to me, helping me out of the water. As soon as I got on my feet I grabbed onto her and hugged her tightly, we were both shaking with fright.

“What was that?” I asked her.

“I have no idea, but I need another mimosa.”

I nodded my head yes in agreement and we ran back to the house.

Later that day Nick and I ventured into the woods to gather some sticks to make a fire. Christen stayed behind to work on dinner. I was walking when all of a sudden a woman’s body dropped from the tree in front of me, she was hanging from a noose, she was gray in color, and her eyes were pitch black, she reached out and grabbed my throat. I started to scream but I couldn’t make any noise, at least it didn’t sound to me like I was making any noise, until I felt Nick’s hands grab my shoulders and pull me out of the dead woman’s grasp, then I heard the sound of my own blood curdling scream and everything went black.

I woke up wondering if the sound of my scream was the same scream I had heard earlier while I was in the water, or if I was going to be the next body hanging from the tree.

Love & life lessons,

Kristian