A nightmare

A nightmare.
Have you ever wondered what a nightmare is?
No, a nightmare is not a bad dream.
A nightmare is something that continues even when you are awake. It's an obsession, a woodworm that digs inside and eats everything, until nothing remains but an empty shell.
It's waking up one morning, looking in the mirror and no longer recognizing yourself.
It's realizing that you hate your life while you go to work, or take the car, cursing in traffic.
It is realizing that you have reached the end of the line by listening to a song, without understanding its meaning.
It's going out even when you don't feel like it, in order not to spend Saturday at home.
It's looking someone in the eye, a friend, a partner, a brother and realizing you're alone.
It's sitting at the table with your family and feeling your mouth full of straw.
It is looking up at the night sky and understanding, looking at the stars, that there is no after, no before, no here and now, no Carpe Diem: only entropy and eternal emptiness
No, a nightmare doesn't start when you close your eyes.
A nightmare begins when you open them.