f r i g h t e n e d

the walk

Thunder cracked, interrupting your thought-"I should've grabbed an umbrella"-and made you jump with fright. Rain fell in sheets against your skin. Of course today is the one day your car decided to act up. You tugged at your already soaked jacket, hoping it would provide some protection from the rain. Cars drove slowly past, trying to get home, their rushing subdued by the ever present rain. On your right, the road. Your town is very small so there aren't a lot of cars but enough to keep you from crossing to get to the shops across the road. And on your left, the woods. Your only option.

As a child, you remember walking home from school or a friends house on a hot day. Now, you wish that it would provide some sort of protection from the rain. You think that maybe, today, it can provide the same use once again. Suddenly, you get that spine-chilling feeling that someone is watching you. Your head snaps up and looks around in the rain, a part of you wishing you don't find anything-or anyone. The other part wishing-hoping-that you do. Saddening yet relieving, you don't find anyone. You glance at the woods, then at the street. You choose the woods. Sidestepping the bushes, you take a leap of faith into the trees. Deeper and deeper than you remember. Up ahead you see a worn path-the worn path.

As you expected, the thick collection of the trees has shielded the rain. Now, it is only a slight drizzle. The heaviness of the air makes it slightly hard for you to breathe. (PLAY THE VIDEO ATTACHED TO GET A BETTER FEEL OF THE UPCOMING SCENES) You trudge on through the woods. Thinking about how nice a warm shower is you almost miss the sound of a branch snapping. You stop dead in your tracks. Nervously, you slowly turn around, your brain trying extremely hard to notice any abnormalities. Nothing. You release a breathe that you weren't aware you were holding in. Lightning lights up the sky, and you count-like you did as a child-and after four seconds, thunder shakes the ground. You smile, reminiscing on the "good times". Once again, you almost miss another snap. Almost.

This time you don't start to look around. You just speed walk down the path. Sending a quick prayer to God, you walk faster. And faster. Eventually you are just short of a run. You ditched your shoes deciding that it would be easier to run without them. You come to a fork in the path, a huge tree branching out over you. One word popped into your mind-ominous. You lean against the tree, attempting to catch your breath. You rest your head on its trunk and close your eyes. Wow, I'm out of shape- you think. You breathe in and out for what feels like five minutes. Your heart seems to calm down slightly. But that doesn't last for long.

"Run."

A single voice calls out to you. You don't have to tell me twice- you think. You launch off the tree and take off running. Your eyes are glued to the ground looking out for any rocks or tree roots sticking out of the ground. Running is not your forte, but apparently you choose the flight option. Everything is just a blur as you pass. Run, run, run. It's words repeat over and over in your head. Your sense of direction is completely gone as you run with reckless abandon. Well not complete reckless abandon, just partial.

You take a chance and look over your shoulder, knowing that it might slow you down. Nothing. Just woods. You decide to slow down. Up ahead, you see a large tree in the middle of a forked path. You walk up to it and rest your head on it. After about a minute of silence, you think you remember this. Actually, you are positive you've been here before. You just ran through here. You just lean your head back against the tree and close your eyes. You are getting frustrated, but you just keep breathing deep.

"Don't worry. Its ok to be frightened,"