My face is stinging. I'm out of breath. Tired. Scared. And alone. Realizing that I'm sitting on the ground, I rise to my feet shakily and look around. The last thing I remember is violent wind and mysterious footsteps; then I ran... Now, I'm under a bush. I touch my stinging face and pull them away bloody. I must have ran through a bramble thicket in my haste. It's still dark.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
I bolt. It was the footsteps again. All my wits are drained as my instincts kick in and adrenaline floods my body. I don't even know what's on the other side of these woods. A neighborhood? A field? A city? More woods? I hear the footsteps pursuing me quickly and pick up the pace. They fade away. I run a little farther and then collapse on the ground, my head resting against the trunk of a tulip poplar. My breathing is ragged and uneven. It takes me ten minutes or so to get a steady rhythm going again. Once my breathing gets quiet the woods get quiet. Real quiet. No birds are chirping. No wind is blowing. No leaves are rustling. No animals are burrowing into the ground. My heart starts racing. I need to head home.
Standing, I brush off my jeans-no, wait. I'm in my pajamas. Crap. I start walking home, at least I think this is the direction back to my house... Before long my dark wooden path gets lighter and lighter. I step out from the trees into the moonlight ever so cautiously. Thank goodness it's not a cold night; I'm barefoot and have only a thin pajama pants and shirt on.
On sudden impulse I can't describe, I run to the house as fast as I can. The wind starts to blow. Harder and harder and harder... It pushes me sideways until I can't help but run right back into the woods. I can't stop running until I reach that old Tulip Poplar tree again. I walk back down the same path until I can see my house again. I start to walk towards it slowly but then the footsteps start again, this time coming right at me. I turn and bolt back into the trees. I only know I'm safe when I reach my Tulip Poplar tree.
I'm panting hard again. I slump down to the ground and suddenly feeling confused and vulnerable and scared I pull my knees close, wrap my arms around them, rest my head on my knees, and breathe into my lap heavy, warm breaths.
After a while of resting I get up and, feeling like a CSI agent or something, I creep back to the edge of the woods and jog to the house. As the wind starts to blow I pick up the pace until I'm running harder than ever. The wind starts to push me back again. Determined now to get home I fight it. I swing my fists out and grunt and run as hard as possible, but before I know it-I'm at a standstill beneath the Tulip Poplar tree again.
Sinking down beneath it I curl into a ball and cry myself to sleep.
YOU ARE READING
The Endless Night
Action"...never walk out alone..." Rumors have haunted the property around the little cottage for years. Vanessa Görtz and her family have just moved in and her parents are taking these rumors seriously. Vanessa decides to take matters into her own hands...
