The Omen: Shades Of Death

It tempted us all. Fools, every single one of us. Idiotic, I began to think. Starving, tired, cold, I lie against a bare tree deep in the forest of a region I have never been. My target, watching me from a distance. Its head was turned to the side as its large black eyes locked on to me like a radar. Legend spoke of this beast to be prosperous, but no man had ever come as far as I had. But now that I watch it from this close, I questioned that philosophy as well. I had lost everything I ever held dear to me. Sleepless nights spent at bars drinking nearly everything they had, to spend my days sleeping on park benches. Wasting my life away. I had long missed the life I once had. I'd do anything to have it back—just once more. I had spent the majority of about eight years trying to drown out the memories. Tears fell from my eyes, then froze in the Aridan Tundra. My beard was latent with ice from the snow. It had been days since I spoke. My lips were sealed shut due to the moisture that escaped my mouth. My arms and legs were exhausted and mostly frostbitten. I could clearly see my body in front of me, but it felt like it belonged to someone else because I no longer had control. Oh, how I wish I could rewind the clock. Maybe that is the kind of thought that brought me here in the first place. Everyone I had pushed away warned me of my desires. However, I did not listen to them. But I should have. All this time I tried to prove them wrong; I ended up being the one who paid the ultimate price.

This winged beast mocked me in my misery. Making me cling to false hopes and pulling me from the very brink of death. Though a delightful sentiment, I much rather die. I much rather give in to the departure that I should have done myself so many years ago. It knew that I wanted to end it, but the beast seemed to have different plans for me.

I much rather not be here, sitting in the cold, wet snow. Moisture from the groundwater soaked into my shirt. My pants and shirt both frozen to the barren ground. My stomach vibrated at the fact that I had no food to consume. And the delusions of my mind made me see people that were not really here.

I sat against the tree in the frigid wastelands of The Aridan Tundra, recalling my journey here. I did live a good life, despite having many setbacks. I have had many blessings and many reasons to live. But at this moment, I would gladly trade those for death. No man should ever witness this form of torture.
I do, however, find it comical that I am not the first to encounter this. Many men before me have come to this same fate. The legend of this place remains the same. But there has never been a man that could return to discount the lies that have been passed down through history. My weary eyes shift around this place at all of the bones of men who once yearned for the things they had desired. Many wanted wealth and riches, and others wanted peace. Me, I just wanted to see them again, those I had lost.

The more I watched the beast, the more I was cast into memories of my past—specifically, moments where I held my strongest regrets. I was forced to see it. Blood on my hands, I looked down at my knuckles and began to cry. I looked down at my feet, and her fragile body lie at my feet, holding the most precious little thing I had ever seen. Beside her, a broken bottle of Vodka that I had been drinking for hours, next to a red necktie. My frozen lips ripped apart as I began to scream.
“Why are you showing me this!” But, no answer. I began to taste the blood from my damaged lips as I felt on that day. I wanted it to stop, but I could not control my body, just like my reality. I watched again as I leaned down and grabbed her. Suddenly, I heard a scream. A terrible screech startled me back into reality.

In the distance, the sunset behind this terrible creature that screeched, holding its giant wings out to its side, as if it was about to fly away. I hoped that it would. Then, maybe, I could die in peace. I noticed the red stains on its white, fuzzy legs and talons just before it hid them again behind its wings. It would be my explanation as to why the many skeletons are missing their heads.