Solstice

Chapter 1

I was running in the forest wildly. Looking for . . . something. I didn’t know what I was looking for. My legs were disobeying my command. I kept running and running. I couldn’t get myself tired enough to stop. I was running for a very long time. My muscle was supposed to ache by now but it didn’t. My heart thumping rapidly that it might come out of me anytime.

It was sometime around dusk. I could tell because it was between day and night and I could still see a bright orange at west. The forest wasn’t empty though it looked like it was. I could hear the birds fluttering their wings and squirrels scurry away from me. I hear almost everything in this forest including my own footsteps. I couldn’t tell whether or not this was all a dream because it seemed so real but it may be my crazy imagination

Finally, I got myself to a halt. It was not because fatigue or hunger. It was because I heard someone . . . or something growling. I could hear its huge heart although it was away from me. It couldn’t be a man. It was big and its fangs exposed, but it remained hidden in a bush. A pair of red eyes was lighted with fury locked on mine. It wasn’t friendly at all by the way it responds to my stare.

I quickly took out a gun, pointing at the beast towards its heart that would have killed it. I didn’t even know where I got the gun from. Should I pull the trigger? I asked myself brainlessly.

The beast blinked and the fury in its eyes disappeared. It took a pace towards me, though it was still in the bush. It was trying to calm me down, to make me understand of something.

I wasn’t convinced. My gun was still aimed at its heart. Somehow, this beast doesn’t run away like others did. It just stood there and stared. How unnatural! Other beasts will try to attack me or run away. It took another step towards me, this time, not concealing.

I could see what it is. It wasn’t what I was looking for all this time. It wasn’t supposed to exist in this world and era. It had orange fur and two longs fangs visible. It was a sabre-tooth tiger.

I lowered my gun slowly, letting it escape since it wasn’t my enemy.

Sophia.

My eyes widened and I aimed the gun back to its heart. Where does the voice come from? It couldn’t be from the tiger. Animals don’t talk, does it? The sound of the voice was unrecognizable. I will never forget the voice that will haunt me for the rest of my life.

I jolted awake, nearly falling off bed. I looked around myself in a familiar place, not the forest. I relaxed after I realized that it was a dream and I wasn’t in the forest anymore. The familiar photo album on the table next to me reminded me that I was in my bedroom. The curtains were drawn as I left them last night.

Just a dream, I calmed myself. It was just another nightmare. I got up from my bed and took a deep breath. That was the third nightmare of the same forest this week. It wasn’t normal for anyone to dream of the same thing numerous times. The nightmares always confused me from what was real and what was unreal.

However, I told my mother about it a few days ago. I was hopping she would tell me why do I always have these nightmares and how to stop them. The only thing she told me to do was ignore it. How helpful! It was easier for her to say! Did she know how much I had suffered? Of course not.

The second thing I thought was how cold it was in here while my body was reacting to the cold air that touched my cheeks. I cupped my hands on my cheeks for awhile so I will feel a little warmer. Folding the comforter that wasn’t protecting me from the cold, I shivered then walked towards the heater that was supposed to keep the room warm. “Stupid piece of junk,” I muttered after I kicked the heater. It wasn’t working anymore. I wondered how long it wasn’t working.