Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-31165221-20180212172858

As a kid i hated going to sleep, not necessarily the sleeping part but rather the time spent trying to fall asleep. Almost every night i would lay in bed hoping that it would be easier to fall asleep than the last time. But i can't say that going to sleep has been harder for me than it has been for my brother. He often suffers from horrible nightmares. Yes i have had my fair share of nightmares as well. But there was one night that i will never forget, no matter how hard i try.

It was a warm summer day, me and my younger brother spent most of the day playing in the backyard of our house. As the sun began to set me and my brother went inside, ate dinner, and got ready for bed. I was prepared for the usual restless night that i experienced often. I do the usual tossing and turning, as well trying my hardest to keep my eyes closed. And i soon fell asleep.

My dreams all seemed as if a different world. Each world filled with something different. And sometimes if i focused hard enough i was even able to switch between these worlds. But there was one world that i hope i never visit again. Me and my brother were standing in a misty, dark, and cold forest. The sky seemed as if painted a mixture of black and a dark gray, and all of the colors of the forest seemed faded and blurred. My brother looked at me with intense fear present in his eyes, as if he knew that something was terribly wrong. We walked through the forest looking for a way out, but it seemed that every turn we took led us back to an area that looked exactly the same.

Over time it felt like the forest was effecting us. My brother and i started to see small woodland creatures, but they were horribly deformed. We felt sick to our stomachs and even vomited a few times. I looked over to my brother, he was pale and had his hand on forehead.

He noticed me observing him. “My head really hurts” he moaned.

“Mine too” i say, “let's just sit for a minute”

We sat on the forest floor, silently looking at each other, then a small squirrel climbs onto my brother, at first merely smelling him.

“AAAAHHHH” my brother screams in pain as the squirrel takes a bite out of his arm.

I jolt toward my brother and knock the squirrel off of him. Blood began to run down his arm, much more blood than i expected. Being a young child i didn't know what to do. But to my surprise his arm started to decay and rot until it was shriveled and gray. Mason continued to wail in pain and then fell to the ground as if having a seizure. Just as he fell to the forest floor i heard a loud screech shake the very foundation of the forest. I picked up my brother and ran. Not bothering to take a certain path but rather running in any direction to get away from the source of the noise. After running at least a mile i noticed a small cabin.

When i arrived at the cabin i quickly opened the door and went inside with my brother in my arms. I try getting Mason to respond to me.

I grab him and starting shaking him“Mason, Mason!”.

No matter what i tried he wouldn't respond. I heard the shriek again and then I felt the cabin shake. I knew whatever it was making the noise was closer. I could hear a combination of what sounded like crying and laughing. Terrified, i grabbed Mason and tried to leave the cabin. But the door wouldn't budge. I slammed my entire body weight against the door. But it still wouldn't budge. Then i noticed the sound of claws scraping against the side of the cabin, it began scratching intensely at the door. The wood on the door began chipping rapidly. I knew i needed to find a way out. I looked over and noticed a loose panel on one of the walls, i looked through it and saw outside. So i began kicking the panel with all of my strength and thankfully it broke off.

A gap was now available so i grabbed Mason and put him through the gap. I heard the shriek again right outside the door. I try squeezing through the gap but it was not big enough. The door is barely standing as the creature claws at it. I put both of my hands on the outside walls and pushed my way out, getting cut and bruised in the process. Then i fell onto the forest floor outside, grabbed Mason and laid him over my shoulder. I ran as fast as i could away from the cabin after i heard the door of the cabin bust down.

Even though i couldn't see it when I looked behind me I knew it was getting closer. Then Mason came out of his seized state, Regardless I continued to run with him over my shoulder until I was certain that we had lost the creature. I sat my brother onto the forest floor only to notice that he was struck with fear, he appeared to be almost paralyzed with it.

“What?, what's wrong Mason?”

After a long stretch of silence he finally responds.

“Its eyes, its arms, its fingers” he says with a long pause in between each description. "It almost grabbed me”.

“Its okay, we lost it” i said to try and calm him down.

We started walking again. But needless to say we both knew that it was still searching for us. We kept progressing through the forest but over time we found that the forest was a never ending expansion of tall trees and dead grass. As we kept walking we began to notice several decaying bodies laying around in random places. Mason began to cry.

“We will get out of this, i promise i won't let it get you” i say to him.

“We can't get away” he says through his tears.

I became even more unsettled by hearing his words but i couldn't let him see that I had also lost hope. Mason then began to scream as he was grabbed and dragged away. The creature was too fast for me to catch a glimpse of it. I began running in the same direction Mason was being pulled away but before I knew it he disappeared into the fog. I could still hear his faint screams so I followed them.

After what felt like hours of running my lungs began to hurt, and my legs ached. I fell to my knees and tears surfaced from my eyes. Then i heard the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching me. I got up and started to run even though I was in pain. I heard it getting closer, and closer, and closer. Then my legs gave up and I fell to the ground. Even though i was scared, i decided to look at the creature. But what I saw will haunt me forever. The creature slowly began to walk toward me, it twitched and writhed as it approached me. I found myself unable to move. But then I awoke.

Only to find that Mason was gone. I am an adult now, Mason never returned nor was he ever found by anyone. These days I am able to fall asleep rather easily, but sometimes i can see my dreams starting to lead me back to the forest, back to where the thing that took my brother resides, waiting for its chance to take me as well. 