Fever Dreams
The man who just stepped onto the bus and sat down across from me is staring.
I've never seen him before but he glares at me with a look of absolute disgust on his face. His eyes are narrowed and his teeth are clenched and he doesn't blink. If it were not for the unmistakable malice in his eyes it would be an almost comical expression.
As he continues to stare at me his face begins to change. It grows darker - not in color, but as if the light around it were diminishing.
His mouth becomes a black hole and streams of white light pour from his eyes.
Suddenly all the passengers are standing and pointing. They scream as the thing in front of me rises from it's seat. I pull down hard on the bell and the bus shudders to a halt. I throw myself out the back door and into the cold night air.
A girl I've never seen before runs up to me and grabs my wrist. "Hurry!" she hisses and begins to run, dragging me behind her. We sprint down a dark street and scramble over a fence and into a field and continue our dash until we reach a stand of trees. We stumble down a dirt path and without warning she pulls me off the path and we collapse at the base of a huge oak.
I want to ask her what's happening. I desperately need get some sort of grasp on the situation, but all I can do is stare at her and feel my throat constrict as I try to speak. She is sitting cross legged with her hands over her face, her head bowed towards the ground. The night smells heavy with impending rain and I can hear thunder rolling in the distance.
"What the hell is going on?" I finally manage to whisper. My voice sounds frightened and very small among the thick growth of trees.
"It's not over yet." she says softly. She raises her head and looks at me. I begin to scramble backwards, my feet pin wheeling underneath me and slipping on the fallen leaves scattered on the ground. Her face is beginning to change.
I am running again, down the dirt path and deeper into the forest. The storm clouds have broken and the downpour turns the dirt into thick mud that grabs at my boots as I run. The trees along the path become older and more gnarled looking , like malicious old men. They slap at my face with there branches and try to trip me with there roots but I am being driven by panic now and crash through the barrage and onto an unfamiliar street.
I am doubled over, sobbing uncontrollably and gasping for air. Before I can regain myself a horrific figure emerges from the woods dressed in black hunstman's clothing primitive in there aspect and bearing great antlers. He is impossibly tall and taking great loping strides towards me. Before him are a pack of dogs snarling and baring their teeth. I turn to run and see a flash of light and then nothing.
I am sitting on the bus again watching the rain spatter against the window. I am not sure if I have forgotten my medication or if I am dreaming.
It probably doesn't matter.
End.
M. Stafford 2005
I've never seen him before but he glares at me with a look of absolute disgust on his face. His eyes are narrowed and his teeth are clenched and he doesn't blink. If it were not for the unmistakable malice in his eyes it would be an almost comical expression.
As he continues to stare at me his face begins to change. It grows darker - not in color, but as if the light around it were diminishing.
His mouth becomes a black hole and streams of white light pour from his eyes.
Suddenly all the passengers are standing and pointing. They scream as the thing in front of me rises from it's seat. I pull down hard on the bell and the bus shudders to a halt. I throw myself out the back door and into the cold night air.
A girl I've never seen before runs up to me and grabs my wrist. "Hurry!" she hisses and begins to run, dragging me behind her. We sprint down a dark street and scramble over a fence and into a field and continue our dash until we reach a stand of trees. We stumble down a dirt path and without warning she pulls me off the path and we collapse at the base of a huge oak.
I want to ask her what's happening. I desperately need get some sort of grasp on the situation, but all I can do is stare at her and feel my throat constrict as I try to speak. She is sitting cross legged with her hands over her face, her head bowed towards the ground. The night smells heavy with impending rain and I can hear thunder rolling in the distance.
"What the hell is going on?" I finally manage to whisper. My voice sounds frightened and very small among the thick growth of trees.
"It's not over yet." she says softly. She raises her head and looks at me. I begin to scramble backwards, my feet pin wheeling underneath me and slipping on the fallen leaves scattered on the ground. Her face is beginning to change.
I am running again, down the dirt path and deeper into the forest. The storm clouds have broken and the downpour turns the dirt into thick mud that grabs at my boots as I run. The trees along the path become older and more gnarled looking , like malicious old men. They slap at my face with there branches and try to trip me with there roots but I am being driven by panic now and crash through the barrage and onto an unfamiliar street.
I am doubled over, sobbing uncontrollably and gasping for air. Before I can regain myself a horrific figure emerges from the woods dressed in black hunstman's clothing primitive in there aspect and bearing great antlers. He is impossibly tall and taking great loping strides towards me. Before him are a pack of dogs snarling and baring their teeth. I turn to run and see a flash of light and then nothing.
I am sitting on the bus again watching the rain spatter against the window. I am not sure if I have forgotten my medication or if I am dreaming.
It probably doesn't matter.
End.
M. Stafford 2005
posted by M. Stafford at Wednesday, July 19, 2006
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