Did it catch your dreams?

So I came across these three prompt ideas in the past months and I really thought this would work well as a series but I've only started it. I'll work on the rest of the chapters when I don't have a child bugging me in my room XD

[WP] Dreamcatchers need to be emptied from time to time, but with serious caution. You accidentally misread the instructions and can’t contain the...things...anymore

[WP] The dreamcatcher you bought seemed to work, and you never had nightmares again. Tonight, as you prepare for bed, you hear one of its strings snap. Then another. And another…

[WP] Dreamcatchers enable people to sleep well by catching all the nightmares. Dreamcatcher disposal is a dangerous job.

“Dream catchers, huh?” I gave my best friend a deadpan look as I fiddled with the little trinket in my hands

“Yeah. You keep waking me up almost every night because of your nightmares… And I think… you need help” He flashed me a small yet sad smile as he scratched the back of his head.

Honest as always, I couldn’t expect anything else from him “But why dream catchers? Was it your sister’s recommendation?” 

The both of us fell into a fit of laughter. We both know she was into all that hippie stuff, the crystals and the moon rituals and all. We both knew that if it’s anyone that would think of something like this, it would be her. 

“Well, you got me” He grinned cheekily as he raised his hands as if he was surrendering himself “Give it a try though. She’s been bugging me to give you this for a while now. And she left a note…” His expression changed when he seemed to have forgotten something “the note-” he patted his pockets then sighed in relief when he found the small note in his shirt pocket “she said that you need to read this and follow it strictly or bad things will happen” 

“Bad things will happen,” I said mockingly while I reached for the note “I’ll do the reading later. Want to play a round while you’re here?” And with that, I reached for the remote and the controllers that were always on the coffee table. 

Later that evening, I tried hanging the little dreamcatcher over my bedroom window and I went through the note. There wasn’t really much to it. The only thing messily scribbled over the note was to empty it during the full moon. That didn’t make sense… How can you even empty something like this? 

I just shrugged and pushed the note into the top drawer of my bedside table then I got ready to sleep. And quite honestly, for the first time in years… I actually had a good night’s sleep. I guess that dream catcher does work wonders. I’ll make sure to thank Charlie and his sister the next time I see them but for now, I should get ready for work. I had a feeling today would be a really good day.

A good night’s sleep really did make you feel light. It was the first time I felt that in years. Ever since the accident… I had nothing but nightmares. Chilling nightmares of the very incident I have been trying to escape from for the past 5 years already. It’s ridiculous, I know. And I know I really should see a counselor or something for this, I mean, it’s been long overdue but I don’t think they’ll understand what I’m going through. No one will. 

Weeks…. I think 3 months passed and I have never felt this happy and refreshed in years. Even my coworkers noticed the changes as the days passed by. At first, they kept teasing me when I smiled, and now when they see me frown, it seems they become cautious that I might go back to “my depressed self”. I had to assure them that when that happens, it’s because the boss was giving me a hard time again. 

Everything was going well and peachy for the first time in my life and I really couldn’t thank the dream catcher enough for this significant change in my life. Well, I was thinking that. But when I heard something snap, my attention quickly looked for the source. 

‘Pluck’ There it was again. I looked and looked and by the third plucking sound, my eyes fell on the dream catcher that already had three strings broken. I leaned in closer to get a better view because maybe I was just imagining things. But when the fourth string snapped right in front of my eyes, I knew I needed to get this thing checked.