The loud pounding of feet followed Ethan as he ran down the long hall. It seemed like Ethan had been running forever; like this hallway would never end. As Ethan began to tire, his legs and breathing getting heavier and heavier, he saw the end of the hallway. He narrowed his black eyes, his black hair flowing in the wind as he extended his legs into a sprint. There was only a little bit of hallway left until he would escape from the swarm behind him. The myriad of monsters, the mass of tentacles, teeth, spikes, and claws lurked in his mind, and Ethan forced himself to push the thoughts out. Pushing away the mass, he could see men. Dozens upon dozens of men, armed and dangerous, all coming for him. As Ethan neared the end of the hallway, he did not feel the tentacles envelop him until it was too late, pulling him down into the jaws of the beast.
Ethan opened his eyes, looking around at the darkness around him. He felt like he was lying on something, something soft, and a cool wind was blowing, yet he also felt like he was falling. Falling endlessly into a bottomless pit. He tried moving, but no matter what he tried to do, his body refused to move, stuck in this paralysis. Instead, Ethan tried to look at the surrounding around him, black except under him. Beneath Ethan, a light, faint at first, began growing in size and brightness, as if Ethan was reaching the end of the tunnel. He felt like he was going faster and faster, the light getting brighter until a flash enveloped his vision and he collapsed on a hard wooden floor.
Ethan looked around. He was in an empty room, with blank white walls and a brown wooden floor. He looked up to where he fell, and there was a regular ceiling, no place where he could have fallen. To his left there was a small window, the sunlight naturally illuminating the room. To his right, there was a plain wooden door. Seeing nothing else to do, Ethan opened the door. Suddenly, from behind him, Ethan felt a presence, a dangerous one at that. Someone or something had crawled through the window, men or monsters, maybe both. It was probably a good idea to run, regardless. Ethan stepped into the hallway.
The loud pounding of feet followed Ethan as he ran down the long hall. It seemed like Ethan had been running forever; like this hallway would never end. As Ethan began to tire, his legs and breathing getting heavier and heavier, he saw the end of the hallway. He narrowed his black eyes, his black hair flowing in the wind as he extended his legs into a sprint. There was only a little bit of hallway left until he would escape from the swarm behind him. The myriad of monsters, the mass of tentacles, teeth, spikes, and claws lurked in his mind, and Ethan forced himself to push the thoughts out. Pushing away the mass, he could see men. Dozens upon dozens of men, armed and dangerous, all coming for him. As Ethan neared the end of the hallway, he remembered that he had been here before, and knew what was going to happen. Jumping up, Ethan narrowly missed the tentacles that snapped out to grab him. Maybe Ethan would make it this time. However, this idea was all brought to an end as Ethan did not take the landing very well, landing weirdly on his feet, twisting his ankles and causing him to fall to the floor, unable to get up. Ethan felt sharp teeth bite down upon him, enrapturing his whole body in burning pain and consuming his vision with fire.
Slowly, the fire cleared, and Ethan was no longer lying helpless on the ground. In fact, the beast was nowhere to be seen. Ethan looked around. He was in an empty room, with blank white walls and a brown wooden floor. He looked up to where he fell, and there was a regular ceiling, no place where he could have fallen. To his left there was a small window, the sunlight naturally illuminating the room. To his right, there was a plain wooden door. Seeing nothing else to do, Ethan opened the door. Suddenly, from behind him, Ethan felt a presence, a dangerous one at that. Someone or something had crawled through the window, men or monsters, maybe both. It was probably a good idea to run, regardless. Ethan stepped into the hallway.
The loud pounding of feet followed Ethan as he ran down the long hall. It seemed like Ethan had been running forever; like this hallway would never end. As Ethan began to tire, his legs and breathing getting heavier and heavier, he saw the end of the hallway. He narrowed his black eyes, his black hair flowing in the wind as he extended his legs into a sprint. There was only a little bit of hallway left until he would escape from the swarm behind him. The myriad of monsters, the mass of tentacles, teeth, spikes, and claws lurked in his mind, and Ethan forced himself to push the thoughts out. Pushing away the mass, he could see men. Dozens upon dozens of men, armed and dangerous, all coming for him. As Ethan neared the end of the hallway, he remembered that he had been here before, and knew what was going to happen. Jumping up, Ethan narrowly missed the tentacles that snapped out to grab him. Maybe Ethan would make it this time. Ethan remembered something yet again, from a past life, and leaned forward, pulling his body through a safety roll, preventing a nasty fall and his death. Ethan sprinted forward. It seemed the hallway had stretched out again, Ethan would have reached the doorway by now if he hadn't. Ethan felt tentacles behind him and ducked into a slide forward. Ethan jumped back up, only to be caught in tentacles yet again, slingshotting him backward and into the maw of the monster, the saliva enveloping him.
Ethan found himself in the bottom of a body of water, floating aimlessly. Ethan did not feel a pressure on his lungs, so he probably had not been down here long. Around him were rocks and boulders, a cave-like landscape with menacing spikes all around. Above him was light, indicating the surface was above him. Ethan pushed with his legs, jumping up to reach the light. As he emerged from the water in a leap...
...Ethan landed on the wooden floor as he continued running. The loud pounding of feet followed Ethan as he ran down the long hall. It seemed like Ethan had been running forever; like this hallway would never end. As Ethan began to tire, his legs and breathing getting heavier and heavier, he saw the end of the hallway. He narrowed his black eyes, his black hair flowing in the wind as he extended his legs into a sprint. There was only a little bit of hallway left until he would escape from the swarm behind him. The myriad of monsters, the mass of tentacles, teeth, spikes, and claws lurked in his mind, and Ethan forced himself to push the thoughts out. Pushing away the mass, he could see men. Dozens upon dozens of men, armed and dangerous, all coming for him. As Ethan neared the end of the hallway, he remembered that he had been here before, and knew what was going to happen. Jumping up, Ethan narrowly missed the tentacles that snapped out to grab him. Maybe Ethan would make it this time. Ethan remembered something yet again, from a past life, and leaned forward, pulling his body through a safety roll, preventing a nasty fall and his death. Ethan sprinted forward. It seemed the hallway had stretched out again, Ethan would have reached the doorway by now if he hadn't. Ethan felt tentacles behind him and ducked into a slide forward.
Why was this beast chasing him in the first place? Surely everything that seemed scary at first was not always so. Not everything that chased him had evil intention. Ethan turned around to look at the beast to see exactly what he was dealing with. To his surprise, what was chasing him was not a beast at all, no monster, no man. It was a woman, running up to face Ethan. She was short and stood shyly and timidly as she faced him. Maybe this was all in his head. Suddenly, the woman jumped towards Ethan, enveloping him with her slim arms and wrapping her lips on his. But just as quickly as the vision of the beast turned into the vision of the woman, soft hands were replaced with razor-sharp claws, and gentle lips were replaced with dangerously pointed teeth, which sunk into his skin like knives. Ethan shut his eyes in pain.
Ethan slowly opened his eyes and looked around. He was in an empty room, with blank white walls and a brown wooden floor. He looked up to where he fell, and there was a regular ceiling, no place where he could have fallen. To his left there was a small window, the sunlight naturally illuminating the room. To his right, there was a plain wooden door. Seeing nothing else to do, Ethan thought of opening the door, but remembering his past lives, thought against it. He turned towards the window and looked out. There was a blurry landscape. Ethan was unsure what season it was, the temperatures blending together in this undeterminable feeling. The landscape also seemed to be shifting, as if it was unsure what it was, sometimes a desert, sometimes a jungle, sometimes a forest, sometimes a meadow, sometimes a city. Ethan looked down, and seeing nothing else to do, jumped out.
Ethan watched as the landscape solidified. He was lying on his bed, gripping the sheets tightly, sweating and breathing heavily. At least he was okay. He got out of bed and looked in front of him. There was a single closed door. Should he open it?
YOU ARE READING
Free Spirit
RandomSome things that I want to write that are cool but are either too short or just don't deserve their own book.
