Illuminating the Dark Prince

Knight of Nightmares

Shrill ululations and venomous coos crept out from the fathomless black shadows lurking beyond the strange unnatural trees. The unearthly sounds slithered up my spine, and overwhelmed the very essence of my soul with an avalanche of trepidation and fear. Frightened and confused, I continued to hysterically race through the godforsaken cesspool of nightmares that I'd somehow accidently stumbled into. 

The putrid smelling air burned in my lungs, and the cut on my foot felt like it had been dipped in acid, making running a toilsome task. I wove my way through the sickening gnarled trees and glowering ferns, scrambling over sharp stones and rotted roots, while screaming at everything like an alarmed guinea hen. Everything here was so dark and malevolent, saturated in atmospherical woe. I was hopelessly lost within the twisted thorny clutches of this harrowing forest of death.

My fingers repeatedly pinched at the skin on my arm, leaving little stinging red marks behind, confirming my worst suspicions... I'm not dreaming... How am I not fucking dreaming!? I had no idea where the heck I was, but there was no doubt in my mind that I was somehow no longer on earth. And all I wanted to do was get the flipping fuck out of this... unknown world.

Did I die and go to Hell!? Is this some sort of divine punishment because I secretly ate that stolen blueberry muffin at work!? 

I didn't have any clue where I was running to or how in the world I was going to get back home, but one thing was for certain, I had to find somewhere safe immediately. Dillydallying for even a measly second wasn't an option in this wretched place. 

In my haste, I tried to brush some of my golden hair out of my face to see a bit better, but it was tangled in my flower crown. It was also still wet from being submerged in the creek, and hung around my head in darkened stringy strands. While fussing with my unruly locks, my soaked and now see-through peachy pink dress suddenly became snagged on a branch. 

I went to tug it free and ended up screaming in terror. The branch that my dress was caught on was more like a gnarled skeleton hand with claws. And it was attached to a desiccated looking ashen corpse within the tree's gaunt trunk. Dry papery skin hung in loose tatters from it's haunting face as if it were shedding like a snake. An echoed otherworldly screech poured out from it's black abyss of a mouth, while it's soulless midnight eyes stared at me with an eerie emptiness.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!" I frantically sputtered in panic, while furiously ripping my dress out of it's grotesque grasp. A piece of the thin material tore off, making my dress scandalously sort and frayed on one side.  

With a whispery hiss, the tree corpse devoured the shredded fabric, slurping it into it's void of a mouth like a tasty spaghetti noodle. I swiftly staggered away with wide terrified eyes and my mouth unflatteringly hanging agape in horror. My injured foot slipped on a slimy, black moss covered stone, smearing it with my blood, and causing me to stumble back and fall onto my butt. I landed on another stone, slamming down hard enough to leave a bruise. "Oof!" 

Tears flooded my eyes and flowed down my cheeks in thin rivulets of despair. Never in my life had I ever felt so afraid. My breathing was uncontrollably rapid and my bones rattled painfully beneath my flesh. Everything in this strange dark place was so frightening and gloomy, cloaked in a nightmarish veil of grievous obscurity. The fragile threads of veracity had begun to fray in my mind, as the undeniable verisimilitude of this otherworldly place had me believing that I was going insane. I just simply couldn't comprehend the fact that this was my current reality. 

"Help! Someone please help!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, causing my distraught voice to echo into the inky darkness, stirring the slithering shadows within it. "Please, someone! Please help me!"  I shakily stood back up, pitifully looking around in desperation for someone, anyone, who could possibly help me. Although, rationally I knew that there probably wasn't anyone else around in this dreadful wilderness. Especially not at this time of night. "Please, anyone, help me." I hopelessly whispered, alone in the dark bleakness.