Mr. Misty-Eyed | Josh Dun

dream sequence | eight

"You were born like this," A voice whispered.

The soft sound carried through the rustling leaves of the dark forest. My left shoulder leaned against one of the many trees, my breath coming out in short gasps. It felt like I had just sprinted a mile, though I only remembered being here for a few moments. I wrapped my arm around the trunk of the tree, the bark scratching the palm of my hand as I did so.

"You were born scared," The wind spoke again and I tried my hardest to block out its words.

"Coward."

My eyes shut tightly while the pressure in my chest grew. It was a daunting feeling to know that the words being spoken were true.

"I'm not," I forced myself to talk back.

An immense wind shook the entire forest, knocking me off my feet until I was lying flat against the ground. Pieces of leaves caught in my hair as I pushed myself up into a sitting position and rested my back against the tree I had just been clinging to.

"Little baby..."

The voice called out to me and then that incessant laugh I've become accustom to echoed through my ears. Tears pricked my eyes as I bowed my head, shielding my face from the darkness around me.

"I'm not," I repeated myself. What else could I say?

I wasn't used to so much noise. I'd much prefer the silence to this voice that mocked me for my insecurities. My hands few up to my ears as a high pitched scream cut through the forest. Someone else was here and they were in danger, and yet I just sat back against that same tree, hoping that the nightmare would just fade away. Coward.

My breaths were still uneven as I finally let my hands drop to my sides. I felt nothing as I sat there in the shadows casted by the trees above me. And then the sound of water splashing hit my ears. It sounded as though someone was trying to run through shallow water, but kept getting tripped up.

A breathless gasp had me flinching away from the sound and I turned to my left to see nothing. Someone else was here. Someone else was drowning, just as I had so many times. But who?

I shook my head. I didn't want to know. I didn't want to be faced with something that I knew I wouldn't be able to handle. I could still hear the muffled sounds of sloshing water and the exasperated breaths as the person I didn't know tried to keep from going under.

My hands once again found their way to my ears and I felt my body rock back and forth as I tried to convince myself that none of it was real. I wasn't standing by as someone else suffered the way I had. I wasn't surrounded by a forest sitting in the dark. I was safe in my own bed. It was all just a dream.

And yet even with my ears covered, I could still hear the wind as it whispered.

"Coward."

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