Not that I was afraid of the dark, but I grew paranoid of the unknown animals or whatever else that could have been lurking around. The forest was completely quiet, a little too quiet. The only sound that I heard was the beating of my own heart and my bare feet moving slowly along the ground as I was surrounded. by the decaying leaves that had fallen from the lifeless trees. My feet ached from stepping on the branches and sharp rocks.

As I was wandering through the forest trying to see if any of it looked at all familiar, I had a feeling that I knew I had been there before.  I was still in my blue tank top and white pajama bottoms I figured that I must have been sleepwalking and walked right out of the house. I knew that the house couldn’t be too far away, and my aunt would have left the porch light on like she did every night. Out of nowhere, I heard heavy-sounding footsteps slowly creeping up behind me. I thought that it might have been a bear or a deer, but I had a fear that I was being hunted.

Instant chills were running up and down my spine. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being watched. The fear of whatever it was coming closer to me made my instincts scream,

RUN!

Running through the woods, as branches tur at my skin. I tripped over a big root from a tree sticking up from the ground. I looked behind me to see a black shadow figure appear.

I froze where I had fallen, staring up at a pair of big, glowing, red eyes. At first, I thought that I might have been imagining what my eyes were seeing. Maybe the dark was playing tricks on me.

 A tall shadowy clocked figure that was almost hard to see blended in with the darkness of the forest like it was camouflaged. I screamed for my life.

 I grabbed a long stick that was lying beside me. “Don’t come any closer!” I tried to sound brave even though my voice along with my body were shaking. I held the branch like it was a spear ready to attack while my hands trembled.

Stepping forward, I swung the stick at the figure, but it was so quick that it grabbed me and picked me up by my neck, and forcefully slammed me against a tree. The bark felt rough like sandpaper scratching at my back. I couldn’t scream or breathe because of the pressure of its hold around my throat.

I was doing my best to defend myself, but it was like I was fighting air. I couldn’t feel my nails digging into its arms or my legs kicking against the shadow. Every force that I used to protect myself went right through it as if it was a ghost.

          I felt it choking the life out of me as its grip grew stronger and tighter. My vision was getting hazy, and I couldn’t see anything but its eyes glowing bright red. I didn’t know what to do, the thing was definitely not human.

I was beginning to feel tired and weak. I was starting to faint. It threw me to the ground with hard force. When I hit the ground, I covered my face with my hands and curled up into a ball and I let out another deathly scream.

“What the hell is the matter with you?”

I opened my eyes to find Aunt Ingrid beside the door in her long puke green–colored bathrobe. My eyes stung from the light in my bedroom. I looked over at the clock, and it read 3:30 a.m.

“Sorry.” I noticed myself sweating and breathing heavily like I had just run a marathon. I

was grateful that it was only a bad dream and that I was back in my bed. Not in the forest with

the monster that tried to kill me, but I was not grateful for waking up to the sight of my angry

aunt with her teeth grinding and her face red.

“This is the third time this week you woke me up because you had some stupid

nightmare. When are you ever going to grow the hell up?” Her voice sounded like a growl. “If I have to come in here again, you’re sleeping out on the porch.” Then she slammed the door behind her.

I felt myself going crazier as my nightmares continued to get worse. They were becoming more real. It felt like I was really there. I felt the sticks and rocks beneath my feet. I felt the terrifying shadow nearly choking me to death.

I always had the same dream of me running through the forest from something or someone, but I never saw a clear close-up of the shadow until that night. The monster in a black cloak with big red glowing eyes was going to kill me.

Why did the dreams keep on reoccurring? What could they have meant? I didn’t bother going back to sleep that night in fear of the same nightmare and Aunt Ingrid flipping out. So, I just stayed up with the lights on waiting for the sun to rise.