Birdsong

"Can you see it?"
"See what?" I asked.
"The bird, Sage. The bird that is larger than both of us combined."
"No. I don't see it."
"Can you hear it?"
I paused and shut my eyes. "Yeah. It's singing."

--

Sage Matthews can't sleep. He can remember when the dreams started, when they ended and when they began again. But he can't seem to remember a time when he could actually sleep. He can barely remember what happens between.

The dreams don't stop. They're almost always the same. He's either being chased through the woods, or sitting peacefully under a tree. He's either waking up panting in fear, or waking up further rested, but somehow more exhausted than he was before he went to sleep.

He doesn't know what's going on. His mother doesn't know. His doctor doesn't know. All Sage knows is that something is off--something is wrong. And it has to do with an unnameable forest.