I was running through the woods, it was dark and cold. My legs were burning from running and my chest was on fire. My lungs felt as though they would burst at any moment. I was lost and scared; I had been running for what seemed like hours. Running from someone or something I didn’t know which, and then it happened, the ground crumbled under my feet and I found myself falling.
It felt like I had been falling forever, like I
was in a bottomless pit I hit the ground, hard. I stood up, dusted myself off and looked around, wasn’t much to see, everywhere around me was total darkness. I heard this low growl; my body stiffens, the hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up. I held my breath and listened, there it was again, “Grr.” It was coming from up above. I looked up and saw it for the first time; this huge black, thing with red glowing eyes, saliva dripped from his mouth as it watched me, it was crouched down like it was getting ready to pounce on me. He flipped his tail from side to side and then without warning he leapt. I screamed and threw my arms up in front of my face.
I woke with a start. I was breathing hard and sweating, I took a few seconds to calm myself. I took a big shaky breath, then let it out and opened my eyes. I sat up and looked around the room. It was dark in the room, except for the light from the full moon coming through the window.
My father rolled over in his bed and looked at me. “Mark, are you alright?” He asked.
I licked my lips and answered him, “Yeah,
Pa. I’m fine.”
He yawned and then asked. “Bad dream?”
I sighed. “Yeah.”
He shifts a little and yawns again. “You wanna talk about it?”
I ran my hand through my hair then answered him. “No. Sorry I woke you up Pa.”
He smiles at me, “It’s alright son.” before closing his eyes he says, “Wake me up if you need me.”
I smiled and looked over at the bed that was next to me and saw my father asleep. Knowing that he was only a few feet away if I needed him and that I wasn’t alone made me feel better. The sound coming from my father was comforting. I smiled to myself and lay back down. I listened to his soft snoring as I drifted off to sleep. I was safe.
