Eric Miller was very hot one day. He sauntered over to his window and opened it a crack. When he returned back to his bed he started to goggle at his new wallpaper. It was a memorizing blue with alluring doves on it. After a interminable staring contest with one of the hoary doves, he started to look around his room. Eric’s room had one small closet, a full sized bed and a small window. After Eric was bored with looking around his room, he went back to staring at the engrossing dove. After a while Eric’s eyes started to water as if they were waterfalls. When he blinked the dove’s left wing came off the wallpaper. Eric started to rub his eyes. When he opened his eyes the right wing came off. Eric sprung out of his bed like a rabbit. Finally, the dove’s body came off the wall, and  it flew out the window. After Eric saw the dove disappear into New York City’s skyline, he bolted downstairs and got one of his nurses. He grabbed the nurse’s hand and lugged her into to his room, on the top floor. When they got to Eric's room they were out of breath.

“Eric, why did you pull me up here?” Nurse Betty said, panting.

“A dove on my wall paper flew out my window, look for yourself,” Eric said, pointing at the edge of the wall connecting to his open window.

“Eric, I see nothing. Lay down and I will get Nurse Sally.” Nurse Betty scurried out of Eric’s room.

Eric was a billionaire who went crazy when his wife and son were killed in a car crash. He pushed away all his friends and sold everything he owned. He only wore pajamas now. He bought a three story building in New York City. He hired five full time nurses who lived in the building. A doctor came twice a week on Sunday and Wednesday. All of the nurses were in his will.

When the two nurses returned with three needles instead of only one needle, Eric started to question the nurse's decision to use more than one needle. They put all three needles into his right arm. He fell into a very, very deep sleep.

He started to dream. The first dream was good, but the second was a horrible nightmare.

It was a cold, icy night, and Eric was making his son, Lucas, go to indoor lacrosse. Both his wife, Ann, and son, Lucas, didn't want to go out. On the way home from the high school, Ann was trying to stop at a red light, but there was a huge patch of ice. The car didn't stop and an overloaded 18 wheeler, which was going over the speed limit, rammed the small sports car. It was like the sports car was a tin can. Lucas died right away since the truck hit the passenger side. Ann was rushed to the hospital. Eric drove to the hospital as fast as he could. Eric ran to his wife's room on the third floor. Ann died before he could get to her. He started to hear voices, “you killed them, they died because of you, you are worth nothing.” Eric started screaming like he was just shot. He started to attack doctors and anyone in the hallways. Security tackled him to the ground. No one pressed charges, but the court suggested that he would hire nurses to control him.

The nightmare wasn’t a nightmare at all, it was Eric’s past. A past that could drive the best person in the world insane. A past that could make you want to take your own life, to be with the ones you love. 

Eric woke up early the next morning. He sat up in bed and started to stare at the wall paper again. A bird came off the wallpaper, then another one, then another one. They swarmed Eric and picked him up. The window was still open from the night before, and the bevy of doves started towards the small window. Eric didn’t think he would fit out the window, so he braced himself for impact.  Eric closed his eyes and hoped for the best. When Eric opened his eyes, he wasn’t about to faceplant into a wall but flying through the dark sky of New York City. Eric became scared, then interested, then joyful. He was no longer having a terrible moment, but a phenomenal moment. Every horrible thing slipped his mind.  He was like a kid on the first day of summer break.

When the birds finally flew him back to his third floor bedroom, the sun was just coming over the horizon. Eric felt like he was outside flying for only minutes, but he was really out there for hours.

Nurse Sally and Betty were the only people up besides him. They were doing very evil business. They were plotting how to kill Eric. Before Ann died Betty and Sally were great friends with Ann, their old college roommate. When Ann died and Eric became insane, they felt bad for him, so they decided to become Eric's nurses. They just signed the contract, not reading that it stated that they had to live in Eric's asylum and that they could not take time off, even if they were sick. They started to get sick of it, so they started to plot their evil plans.

They finally found the perfect time. They were going to send the other nurse on vacation. Once they were far away, they were going to overdose Eric and give him an undetectable poison in his needles.

That night, Betty and Sally put the poison in the needle. Eric was lying in his bed, reading his favorite book. Sally came in his room first.

“Eric, me and Betty need to give you a quick shot to help you get back to sleep,” said Sally.

“Sally, I don’t think I need to go back to sleep, but thank you,” said Eric.

Then Betty came in with a small needle.

            “It won’t hurt at all, Eric, and you need your rest if you think you can play chess today,” said Betty in an annoyed voice.

“Fine, if it doesn’t hurt,” said Eric casually.

“Here you go, see you on the flip side, Eric,” said Betty in an evil voice. Then the walls started to shake and the birds started to come off the wall paper. They started to cover up Betty, Sally, and Eric. Then the room went black.

A small light started to shine in the distance; it got closer and closer. When it was finally close enough, Eric could see Ann and Lucas, standing in front of a pearly gate.

“Welcome,” said Ann and Lucas together as the gate opened slowly. 

-Riley Mitchell