nightmare

Nightmare
By Tyler Quinn

I was trapped in a room…I couldn’t see anything…it was too dark… I couldn’t remember how I got there, or who I was. I kept hearing incoherent voices, whispers; I called out in desperation but got no reply. I was afraid, no… more than afraid…I was so terrified I couldn’t think straight. I cautiously walked forward, arms stretched out desperately searching for a wall or a door. Then suddenly my hand touched something solid. The solid object felt like a wall. I ran my hands over it hoping to find something: a door knob, light switch, anything. Then my hand touched something protruding from the wall. It felt like a large metallic switch. I tried to pull down on the switch. It didn’t budge. I grabbed the large switch with both hands and used all my strength to pull down on it. As I did the whispers were getting louder and became threatening. I screamed in anger as I pulled the switch. There was a loud clank which echoed throughout the room.
The whispers suddenly stopped and then a door opened slightly at the opposite side of the room. There was red light shining through the cracks of the door, I felt of wave of relief. ‘I found a way out’, I thought to myself.
I cautiously crept toward the door and slowly stretched my hand out open it. The red light became brighter and more intense as I slowly opened the door. The door was now fully open. A ray of intense light it blinded me. I put my hands in front of my face to shield my eyes and stepped through the door not knowing what would happen, yet hoping for the best. Their came a great sense of euphoria and then suddenly the light was gone. I opened my eyes. It took me a few seconds to regain my sight. I was shocked and horrified at what I had seen. I was in a spacious forest of tall oak trees and the entire forest was covered in blood. The smell of it was so pungent I gagged; at that same moment realized I was in a river of blood up to my knees.

I saw the river bank and ran towards it in panic, stumbling in drunken confusion. When I reached the river bank I fell to my knees, hunched over I vomited. I cried out, cursing the heavens with tears running down my face. I wanted to die! I wanted to end this nightmare! I couldn’t calm down. I began to hyperventilate. The tall oak trees were closing in on me; I heard the voices again even more threatening than before. I ran through the forest not knowing were I was going, the voices were growing louder and louder. I then began laughing hysterically at the audacity of my situation. Frantically tearing off my clothes; pulling out my hair while screaming like a banshee.

As the trees closed in around me, surrounding me, I knew what it felt to lose all control: to go “insane”.