Short (not so) Sweet Stories

The Man In The Night

It was a dark night. The clouds hid the great stars from the world like a great darkness hiding monsters. The leaves were still. The night calm. The moonlight barely trickled through the clouds as it dripped through the harsh landscape below. The floor was thick with sharp shining spears of mother nature , yet there was a clearing, peaceful, serene. Away from the trees. Away from the danger. Away from everything. In that clearing stood a man. His heart racing like; his mind full of monsters like the ones which hid in the shadows. His body frozen in fear, for his fear was the greatest of them all. The fear of the unknown.

It had only been a few days since everything started. It was a bright, warm, comforting summer's morning. It was the tail end of summer, but that didn't stop him from enjoying it. The sun shone like his face as he walked down the road. Not a cloud in sight, nor a person either. The trees sang a hymn of serenity as birds chirped their songs and bushes swayed together as a chorus the symphony of sounds washed all doubt And anger from his mind, and even as he looked around the plethora of beautiful sounds hid the darkness which was quickly, yet quietly, engulfing him.

A quick snap of a branch brought him out if his trance and thrust him back into the nightmare he had to live out. Who knew where it came from. Who knew where it went. All he knew is that he felt safer in this little opening than he felt in the desolate forest ahead of him. He tried to grab something at the edge. Just a little branch. Anything which he could use for comfort, and he was almost pulled in.

A rush of wind forced him closer as his legs cried for help. The pain was immense, indescribable, unmatched. With all his might he forced his way back to the opening, back to safety. He had fought off the darkness one last time.

He could not do it again.

The bushes then seemed to flow forward. The trees seemed to sway further. The darkness grew as it edged towards him. He was helpless. He was without friends, family, or without anything close to that. His heart started to sink. His mind fading towards acceptance. He could not hold on any longer. With one final act of grace, he closed his eyes and waited to see an old friend again. And as the darkness rushed in, he found that he had been afraid of nothing his whole life.