Week 10 prompt 2

44. You write a story which ends with the words, "...and then I woke up and it was only a dream." And then you wake up.

I'm frantically running through the wild, jungle wilderness. My voice is gone but I'm heaving, fighting for breath. I'm clawing at the branches and trees that are in my way. I'm fighting.
The massive thudding and pounding that's quickly catching up to me causes me to run even faster. I look below me and it's like I can't see my legs anymore. I'm darting, I'm sprinting, I'm scared.
My eyes are wide with fear and my blood is hot with adrenaline. Stopping isn't an option. Running is all I can do. There is nothing else.
I am so afraid, but I feel stronger then ever, and nothing can stop me.
As I'm running, the forest isn't quite as thick. I suddenly realize I'm approaching a clearing. I burst through the clearing with all that I have. I'm standing on a road. A road that I vaguely remember. I stop running, but only for a moment.
Even though I've been running so frantically, my breathing is relatively slow. My heart isn't pounding as fast as it was a minute ago. I'm not nearly as afraid. I look behind me and see, against the white and gray overcast sky, the tall trees of the forest shake and quiver. My chaser is getting close again. I smile and dart off once again.
My feet tap against the pavement as I run like the wind. For some unknown reason, I laugh. I laugh like I was whispered a funny joke from the silent trees. The pounding behind me continues to follow in my path. This bumpy, mangled road is becoming more familiar to me with every step I take.
I hop over a pot hole and remember where I am.
"The Bingo Road!" I cry out loud, with great happiness. I'm running up the road I grew up on as a child.
I look behind me and can see the beast that's chased me for almost a hundred miles.
Standing taller then any tree in the forest is a giant dinosaur. At the end of this arms are claws sharper then razors, and in his mouth were a thousand teeth even sharper. His scaly skin is a bright orange color, and his ginormous feet leave crater-like footprints in the pavement.
I make a face at him and wink, and his eyes turn bright red. I must've made him angry.
But I'm not scared anymore.
I make it to the top of the hill where my home is and dart down the dirt driveway. I bolt through the door and wait with a smile. I know he's coming.
His footsteps shake the house as he rumbles near. He crashes his head through the front door. His terrifying jaw opens and he roars at me. I only smile bigger.
My mother screams from behind me, and grabs my arm. She tries to get me to go with her, but I know what I must do.
I looked straight into his red eyes.
"It's not real!" I yelled, with all the energy I had left, "It's not real!"
Just like that... he vanished. Everything went quiet.
All that was left where he was standing was a comical dinosaur costume.
I picked up the costume and tossed it aside. I laughed to myself and hugged my mother.
And then I woke up. It was only a dream.

I lay in my bed, cold sweat running down my face.
The nightmare with the dinosaur returns to me at least once a month. The usual ending is me in a corner and him smirking at his prey.
This time I knew what he was. I knew he wasn't real. I knew he couldn't hurt me.
I smiled and went back to sleep, feeling like I had conquered a fear.