Night Terrors

i never had night terrors, but i know a guy that did. he used to go outside at night and scream that the elephants were coming. now the elephants were bigger than me. this i knew, and it was that that i felt when i was awoken, and realized what he was saying. he knew what he was saying. one night it was the Nazis. he was twelve years old, and the year was 1989. but it was the original men from the short filmstrips we watched in library the year before. those were the nights when the tv went off the air. after a few late shows and movies, the national anthem was played and life became surreal enough to dream. i remember the drip of the kitchen sink as if it were yesterday. i would try to wait till the dripping became in time with the clock on the wall. my unconscious would hypnotize me that way, i could dream of things that were too vague....and when i awoke to hear him out on my lawn in his stone age pajamas, shouting that the elephants were still coming... i would always remember that though i couldn't see them, they were bigger than me.