The Difference of the Future

Chapter 3

They moved too fast. He couldn't keep up with them with his eyes. Just when it seemed they had caught one direction, they accelerated and rushed towards him. The shadow swallowed him. He felt alternating waves of heat and cold, like a fever. The inside of his body tickled as if someone were lightly passing a feather over his organs. 

The sensation was far from butterflies in the stomach; on the contrary, it was completely the opposite—unpleasant sensations that couldn't be shaken off. Like being locked in a spacious room with tied limbs. His body stiffened and slammed against the bedsheet, stretched like a candle. His eyes remained open, with the eyeballs rolling quickly from left to right.

Grayness. No light. He couldn't see anything. He felt a force pulling him forward. In a matter of seconds, he was sucked into a patch of slightly brighter shade compared to the surroundings. A sandy beach. Powerful waves, several meters high. He turned around to see a tropical forest behind him. Before he could fully turn, a huge wave engulfed him and dragged him into the foamy water.

His head ached. He sat in a chair in a softly blue-walled room. He saw a rocking crib in the corner of the room. He also saw a girl in the kitchen behind the counter. She smiled at him and blew a kiss. He stood up, waved back, and formed his hands into a heart shape, then walked to the nearest window. He moved the curtain and saw the naked wilderness outside the house. Tall sequoia trees, roots lifted from the ground, providing security with their strong curves. At that moment, he remembered thinking of utilizing their height and curves to create a slide.

But for whom? Do I have a child? I don't even have a girlfriend! But yes, then she must be my wife...

Thoughts surged in his mind until a sudden cry startled him, and he immediately turned towards the crib. His facial expression twisted into a horrifying mask, resembling a person with hair standing on end. His heart momentarily stopped, feeling the blood in his veins turn cold. Cold droplets of sweat gathered at the back of his neck. A devilish creature sat next to the crib, soothingly rocking it. It had black fur all over its body and wore no clothes. It rocked the crib with long black claws. 

On its head were two twisted horns with jagged ends, running the entire length. It turned towards Max and stared at him with wide yellow serpent-like eyes and a gaping mouth. Although fear had completely overwhelmed Max, without thinking too much, he rushed towards it with the intention of grabbing and removing it from his child, for whom he still wasn't sure even existed. The demon stopped rocking the crib, spreading its hairy arms towards Max, ready to embrace him. The moment Max touched its burning fur-covered shoulder, he jerked awake instantly and found himself in his own bed again. It was daytime. One o'clock in the afternoon.