A Midsummer Night's Dream - Rewritten Chapter

Act 2, Scene 2

"Hello?" Demetrius calls out into the night.

No one responds. The only sound that can be heard is the rustling of the leaves on the trees. All he wants to do is locate his wife and that street rat Lysander. Demetrius looks around, fearful of what could be in the dark forest with him. However, he shouldnt be afraid of bears or even wolves. Not when there is something so much worse lurking just out of sight.

A nearby twig snaps and Demetrius is running. He doesnt know where to. All he knows is that he has to get away. But someone is following him, and they are doing an incredible job of keeping up with the athletic Demetrius.

Demetrius knows that he cant stop, not even for a second. Even though he begins to tire and slow down, he continues to run as fast as his legs will take him.

Suddenly, Demetrius feels something hard hit his head. Before everything fades to black, he feels a warm liquid running down the side of his head. A woman with ratty, blonde hair that falls to her waist strides over to the body.

"Once you awake, we will be together forever, my love," Helena coos, dragging the body away, unaware of her own strength. "I am sorry about the injury, but you would just get in the way. When I find Hermia, well see who the witch really is."

Just over the hill, lovers Hermia and Lysander are preparing to camp for the night.

"I know that we were so confident about this just a few hours ago, but now, Im starting to question our decision," Hermia says cautiously. "What if there are people trying to track us down? Youll be executed! I mean, I could just lie and say that its his. Oh, what if Helena is looking for us? I was just so scared when it all happened."

"Don't worry, everything is going to be fine," Lysander tells her reassuringly. "I promise you, by tomorrow, we will be far away from Athens. We will be able to have our baby and raise it together. No one will find us."

Hermia gives Lysander a weak smile.

"We should get some sleep," Lysander says, walking over to Hermia.

"I agree. You can sleep over there," Hermia replies, pointing, with a small yet sneaky smile on her face.

"Alright," Lysander replies. "Why?"

"Can it not wait until we reach our destination?" Hermia questions.

"I suppose it can," Lysander answers, disappointed. "I shall respect your request."

As the two lovers are preparing to sleep, a woman who heard their talking arrives at their place of slumber. She is angry. Even though she has the man of her dreams waiting for her, the only thought in her mind is that of revenge. She had almost been burnt at the stake because her so-called friend had reported her to the authorities for witchcraft. It had been close, but she had managed to get away.

Helena hadnt even done anything. Unless knowing about your best friends secret affair was some kind of crime. Helena hadnt even told anyone. She refused to do so. All she knows is that she had been betrayed. She will never forgive Hermia.

Lysander is woken by someone kicking his leg. He jumps up, looking around the clearing for any sign of trouble. Before he can do anything, a wood plank hits him in the back of his head, causing him to fall to the ground with a small thud. Lysanders body is thrown into a nearby bush.

A thin green snake is placed on the ground and the blonde woman is gone just as quickly as she came. It slithers towards Hermia, who is innocently sleeping just metres away. Suddenly, it bites. Hermia is abruptly awoken, screaming and confused. She looks down to see the small emerald snake latched on to her arm.

"Lysander!" she screams. "Help!"

But Lysander is nowhere to be found.

"Lysander, where are you?" Hermia calls out frantically, trying to remove the snake.

No one responds. She is alone and afraid, the serpent still latched on her arm.

Before the world around her fades away, Hermia hears a shrill laugh echo through the small clearing. To Hermia, the laugh sounds familiar, but she cant place where she would have heard it before. Its probably the venom getting to her. All that she knows is that the laugh sounds... satisfied.