20. Nightmare 2

"That was weird," he said to himself after the old man had left. "I didn't realize that getting old was one of my fears."
Several figures emerged from the mist; normal looking people talking and laughing amongst themselves. And then another group emerged from the opposite direction. More and more people. some talking loudly and harshly, and none of them speaking to him directly. 
Soon he was surrounded, caught in the middle of a great crowd of people. That put his anxiety on high alert. He could feel himself begin to panic. There were just too many people, crowded around him in every direction. Everywhere he looked there were more people and no open areas for him to escape to. It was like drowning in the middle of the ocean with nothing to cling to.
He chose a random direction that he thought might have fewer people and began making his way through the crowd. He said, "excuse me," about a hundred times as he pushed his way past people, desperate to find the edge of the mob. It seemed the every time he pushed past someone, another person or group of people moved into his way.
Eventually he gave up on excusing himself and just pushed and shoved his way through them. These were nightmares, so he didn't figure that courtesy really mattered. He had to get out of this horde of people. They were pressing on on him from every direction, making it difficult for him to breathe.
His heart was racing and he was panting, struggling to breathe, when suddenly he was in the clear. He shoved his way past the last group of people, and suddenly there were no more of them. He fell to the ground, sucking in air.