I was completely drenched in fear and had no idea what I could do. My thoughts were overlapping and tangling. Just nothing tangible or reasonable could come out of them.

Everywhere was covered in black. I thought I was between walls in black paint until I started walking and realised it was a dark space with no end.

With the aid of starlight, I could figure there were trees all over. Weird-looking trees. And that scared me more. Trees of bizarre human shapes howling indistinct voices. What an evil forest to be caught up in in the middle of the night.

I kept legging, groping my way in search of hurt or anything that could keep me safe or at least stop me from hearing these whispers, and keep my eyes off gazing at these eerie trees which then appeared to be dancing and making gradual moves towards one another.

With fear jittering through my veins, I took every pace with utter cautiousness, trying to repress the dry leaves on the floor from creaking loud.
I wanted to vent out squeals maybe I could feel better at some point but I thought to myself "what if djinns inhabit here" so I didn't.

'Yeehh' I screeched softly, after stumbling on something I had no idea of, it crawled past my feet. I forgot to mention, I was barefooted and donning a brutally pierced blue shirt and a knicker. And that in fact made me more vulnerable.

I was still looking into what crawled past me, how it felt like a snake-- my most despised creature, when a ginormous creature flew past my head, striking me violently with a heavy breeze that almost blew me off.

This time, my miseries snowballed. Fear was blazing fire in my body. My hands were trembling and my feet were now vibrating hard on the dry leaves.

That moment was the darkest one of my life, I didn't know if I should run or stand and watch cuz lots of scary and untamed creatures started to appear and are closing on me.

I am a big fan of Tony Stark, popularly called Ironman, one of the best superheroes in the Avengers, with the deadliest of superpowers-- at least to me.

So, I wanted his power so bad that I was even feigning some useless moves to scare away these monsters-- very unfamiliar creatures.  Bruhh, nothing happened, I wished I had superpowers. I now regret declining the man that offered to teach me magic. I said I wasn't going to need it.😑😭

These uncanny creatures were way far from discernible, though they were all the same, up to 50 feet tall, having four strong and pointing horns, sharp-looking teeth, and tongues covered with thorns. Not to mention those long curved and sharp claws. A slight collision with me would leave me no chance to survive.

I started running, leaping over from one tree to the other, yunno adrenaline rush, cuz I only had a choice, and that was to survive so I can mouth every second of this adventure to my friends.
They were still after me, all of them, but I didn't succumb even as the fear grew and my heart pounded faster, probably 120 beats/min, who knows?

I used to sprint back then in high school, but I don't think I ever sprinted this fast. It was like Usain Bolt pro max. But unfortunately, I ran into a huge depression and was descending so fast with gravity. With so much wind rushing into my nostrils, my breathing became imbalanced. My vision was affected too(couldn't see anything, my eyes dey red). At this point, I felt my life wringing out of me till I started to feel nothing. And....
"Get up! Get up!" Mama exclaimed plastering some slaps on my back.
So, I've been dreaming all along. "I can breathe, I can breathe" I blurted.

© Dele