Wings

Chapter Twenty-Nine

I'm home.

In my bed.

I'm a small child.

Maybe 5 or 6 years old.

I had just awaken from a nightmare.

Tears are running down my face

My breathing is rapid.

Same old, same old.

"Mommy," I scream.

She stands in the doorway of her bedroom.

Her face is expressionless.

"Mommy! I had a bad dream," I stammer.

Mom has wings.

Beautiful, sparkly wings.

I don't mention them, though.

Mom begins to smile when she notices me run toward her.

A wide, eerie, sharp-toothed smile.

I don't mention that either.

I feel a tug on my legs and arms.

I turn to see a herd of Creatures dragging down a black hole.

"Mommy," I shriek even though I know she's not there.

That woman standing in my doorway is not my mother.

She's a monster with wings.

Yet, I still call for her. "Help Me! Mommy, help me!"

The Creatures have pulled me down the black hole in the floor.

And into a field.

A dead, brown field.

I'm older now. 18 years old.

I stand and look around me.

There are leafless trees that circumference the field.

Creatures hover in between the branches.

Smiling at me.

I feel the urge to turn and run.

But when I do step on something hard.

More like someone.

I look down and see Frosty looking at me with dead eyes.

I scream and step away only to step on Erin.

She's dead, but smiling an unnaturally huge smile.

I look around me only to notice I'm surrounded by fallen Wings.

Some I know. Most I don't.

The Creatures in the trees laugh at me.

They point and tease me for losing my mind.

The dead Wings on the ground have risen and tackle me to the ground.

Growling hungrily as they rip off my Wings.

Bit by bit.

The Creatures continue to laugh.

And it surprises me that they don't join in.

I scream.

I kick.

I thrash.