Mama Theres Monsters In The Forest

I dream of dead people

   

Milos head swam with images of wolves. They danced behind his eyes, performing dazzles that Milo had only seen at a circus. They danced as gracefully as ballerinas and as swiftly as rivers. They moved with an ethereal grace that both set Milo’s skin on fire with goosebumps and twisted his gut to the point where, if he had been awake, he would of been long gone. If he had been awake...those words seemed to inject some semblance of consciousness in the boy.  Milo vaguely felt something soft brush up against his face. Something wet touched his ears. As if sensing his returning consciousness, the wolves started to dance more furiously now, as if they could keep him trapped here in the darkness.

The darkness… Milo recalled the black wolf with the familiar eyes.

Those eyes... Milo didn’t hesitate as he jumped back into the endless darkness.

Milo’s body appeared in the void, materialising out of nothing. At first, Milo found that he was freezing. His breath bellowed in front of his face, stinging his eyes and the tips of his ears. He shivered, running his hands up and down his body in a hasty attempt to create some warmth. No such luck. The animal that had beckoned Milo here studied him from afar, it’s head cocking this way and that, it’s brow furrowing, furrows and then furrowing again. It was a image that reminded Milo of his friend, Hector, when he was confused. Milo pursed his lips. What could a wolf possibly have trouble remembering?

 The wolf turned, keeping it’s eyes on Milo. Milo got the sense that the wolf was waiting on him to approach, and Milo wasn’t about to deny a powerful predator such as the wolf. He wasn’t that stupid. The wolf kept Milo’s gaze until Milo was next to a animal. It sized him up, it’s eyes unreadable. The wolf sighed, flicking it’s ear. It then ran off, pausing to look at Milo again. Milo got the message loud and clear. It wanted him to follow it. To where, Milo didn’t know. His mind foggy and his eyesight nearly nonexistent, Milo tried his best to follow the animal clad in black.

Time passed effortlessly here, like it had in the forest. Milos game of ‘follow the wolf’ hadn't seemed to last very long to him, but ever since the two started to approach a very dark, very ominous forest, Milo wasn't so sure. He was sure the too had been walking for a little bit, at least for half an hour. Milo’s feet ached in agreement, but that made no sense. Milo peeked over his shoulder and, even though it was dark, he was positive he had started not five feet behind where he currently stood. For a second, Milo wondered if this was a dream. He had read somewhere that time flowed differently in dreams, so of course this would be a dream, right? One really weird...odd and wolf filled dream.

Milo locked eyes with the wolf, and all hope he had vanished like shadows under a sun. This was not a dream. This was something different.

Milo continued to walk with the wolf, following it blindly around each bend in the forest’s maze. Numbly, Milo wondered why he was here. If this wasn’t a dream, then what was it? Some sort of hallucination? A cry bubbled up from his throat, recalling the wolves and their song. Maybe they were eating him. Maybe he was dead and this was his punishment for leading a boringly average life. To be forever lead around the forest of despair by a wolf. Milo didn’t buy it, something much bigger was happening here. This...thing. This wasn’t a death hallucination, or a dream….this was something similar but different. Maybe, just maybe, it was insanity? The forest had been known to cause many people to go absolutely bonkers...Milo pursed his lips again. His mind said ‘yes! That must be it! We’re hallucinating, then, when we somehow get out of these woods we’ll probably kill someone or feast on their flesh or something! A regular Ted Bundy! Milo’s gut disagreed. Milo frowned. The wolf lead onward.

The forest was quiet. A wind danced over Milo, sending a cascade of shivers down his spine, but the leaves high above were left undisturbed. Milo wondered vaguely if he needed glasses. Milo glazed around, the wolf slowing to just a walking pace so the two walked instep. The trees all looked the same dark brown, lifeless color, their branches all looked jagged and uninviting, unlike the forest Milo remembered. This forest was odd, maybe it was because it seemed to have all the life sucked out of it. His forest was bright, inviting and very much alive. It was unnerving. MIlo got the sense that he wasn’t meant to be here.