In the third dream, Mabel finds herself walking down a long hallway, wearing a dress she hadn't own since she was four. It's dark, which was funny, because she remembered this hallways always being very bright. She should be reaching the stairs soon, but the hallway just goes on and on. Someone had been drawing on the walls, and that was not going to make her momma happy. She always liked how clean this place was.

Mabel traces her fingers across each letter, trying to sound them out. U, o, y, d, n, u, o, f. She stops on the f, frowning at it in concentration. That just couldn't be right. Uud? Noof?

When she turns around again, she's found the stairs. She stands at the edge and peers down, even though her daddy always told her not to go near the stairs by herself. There was someone coming, she could hear them.

She's awake. Or she's not. Every time she opens her eyes, she sees that twisted mural plastered on her wall. Every time she closes them, she sees those darkened stairs, hears someone approaching. She's herself, huddled in the corner of a dark room. She's four again, waiting for something long and black to come up the stairs.