Tag: fear

The Lily Pad

I dropped to my knees and felt a relief wash over me, but my eyes stayed on the lily pad.

Mj GaleLeave a comment

I stood there on the edge of the water, the silence surrounded me as thick as a blanket. All was still, the water didn’t move, no rustles in the trees, just silence. I would have thought it felt peaceful, if it didn’t feel so thick. I understood the phrase, “you could cut the air with a knife” a bit more in that moment.

I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. Something was drawing me into it. It pulled so, that I’d blink and try to be more aware of my surroundings, but couldn’t lift my eyes. I was listening hard for even a small chirp from a bird or that lovely song the crickets made at nightfall. I could have sworn it had just been bright as day, but now the sun was setting. My eyes stayed on a single lily pad while I tried to tune in my other senses. I could feel the temperature drop a few degrees as the sun continued to set. What was it about this lily pad? My brain was fuzzy and I couldn’t seem to think straight. How long had I been standing there for? It sure was getting colder and seemed to be getting even quieter. How was that even possible?

Where had I been going? What had brought me here? This is so bizarre, my brain seems so fuzzy right now. I can’t stop staring at it, blinking again I couldn’t lift my arms to rub my eyes, they felt like they were burning, burning so strongly. The sun seemed to have set completely now, but the pond was giving off some type of radiating light, or at least it appeared to be. It was freezing now, I thought I was shivering, how long had it been again? It was floating there, right in the pond, a single lonely lily pad in the small pond. Where was this pond again? I can’t for the life of me remember where I was or what I had been doing, I just knew that this lily pad was there FOR me. What was I to take from this?

I felt a pain in my legs, I realized my entire body was shaking, I dropped to my knees and felt a relief wash over me, but my eyes stayed on the lily pad. I could hear the water lapping at the shore, but hadn’t it just been quiet a second ago? I sense an excitement, having heard some type of noise within the thickness of the silence just a second ago. The lily pad appeared to be getting closer, that was a good thing right? My mind couldn’t seem to form any other functioning thought at this moment, my focus on the other senses gone, all I could see was that the pad was actually just getting bigger. I felt that was a good thing, but I did feel even more of a coldness throughout my body, a deep deep coldness that I could feel within my bones. Another phrase I now understood with more clarity. I chuckled to myself and almost jumped at a noise. Noise! Was that caused by me? The silence felt so powerful that it felt like I was almost being pushed down.

Down. I did feel like I was being pushed down. What a peculiar feeling right now. My neck felt strained as it continued looking at that lily pad. Was it even bigger now? My neck was killing me even more now. The lily pad HAD to be closer.

I am so cold, it’s so quiet and dark….

Where did it go?

The Road Untraveled

Standing in the middle of the dirt roadway, frozen solid. The air had gotten considerably colder…

Mj Gale4 Comments

Walking down the dirt path roadway she marveled at how enchanting the road was. Trees bordering all down the road, as far as you could see, with massive tree covers completely enveloping the roadway, creating a type of calmness that made her feel as if there wasn’t another soul in the world. It was colder under the tree cover, but also quieter and dimmer.

As she walked on, she almost giggled to herself as she considered she was more sauntering than walking, she kept getting distracted by the forests lining the roadway. Something would catch her eye and then she’d catch herself standing and staring at seemingly nothing and have to jolt herself out of the trance to continue walking on.

She noticed there wasn’t any animal noises, no birds chirping or rustling of any forest critters, just her and her soft steps along the roadway. She looked up and could see glimpses of sunlight in patches, but most of the covering was pretty well entangled together above the road.

She kept on for a bit, still marveling at how quiet it was and how it seemed to have no end in sight. It really did bring her to a calm, leaving her alone with her thoughts. She kept on, losing track of time when once again she snapped out of her trance and realized she wasn’t walking anymore. She was standing in the middle of the dirt roadway, frozen solid. The air had gotten considerably colder, she even had goosebumps on her bare arms. She looked around, she didn’t see anything, nothing moving, no wind blowing through the tree coverings, nothing at all.

She suddenly felt as if someone was watching her, as if someone was almost on top of her. She slowly turned around, knowing for sure she was going to be looking straight into someone’s eyes.

There was no one there.

However she realized she hadn’t actually walked that far down the forest roadway. Mere feet in fact. Puzzled, she went to turn back around to continue on her way, when she caught a glimpse of a black figure towards the beginning of the forest cover. She stepped towards it, but it was gone in an instant. It must have been a shadow playing with her eyes she told herself.

Shrugging her shoulders she turned and continued on down the forest roadway. She wasn’t going to get distracted again, she would pay attention. It was very clear just how quiet it had become under these giant trees and their expansive branches, leaves, and coverings. She didn’t make it very far when she felt a Strong sense that someone was about to grab her, she instantly whipped around to confront whatever it was. She was getting irritated now. Probably some kids messing with her. Once again there was nothing there. Again she noticed she wasn’t very far from where she had been last time. Hell, had she even made any progress? She’d been walking at least 15 minutes since the last time she stopped, it had to be!

She wondered if she should just go back the way she came from, but had been enjoying the idea of her walk today and going through this roadway. So she turned and kept on her way. She went at a quicker pace, almost jogging, breaking out a sweat. She just needed to get on with it. She refused to turn around, and paid attention to landmarks with certain trees and ground plants. She knew it had to have been her brain playing tricks on her, so she just kept going.

After awhile she tired, slowing down to a stroll again. Even after working up a sweat she was chilly. She paused to catch her breath and pull out her bottle of water. As she was drinking she was telling herself it was silly to be nervous, knowing full well she was going to turn around and check her progress but not wanting to.

Forcing herself she turned around, breathing out a sigh of relief seeing that she was now deep within the forest roadway.

She froze suddenly when she also realized that she couldn’t see anything beyond a few hundred feet. It was as if everything was part of a giant black shadow, as if she was staring into an actual abyss. She took a few steps forward, back towards the way she had come, the blackness getting closer…5455124131_4050ace8fe_bAs she kept inching forward she realized that the blackness, the shadow was actually moving, writhing.

She inched closer until she was about 5 feet away from the edge. She was staring into a wall of black nothingness, the entire forest she was facing seemed to have disappeared, becoming one with this blackness.

It was eerily quiet, yet she could have sworn she heard a non stop whispering coming from the blackness. As she was focusing on the sounds she realized that the blackness was not only moving within itself, but moving towards her.

She stepped back, another step back, hesitant to turn her back on the wall but knowing she needed to move, and move now. Turning she was relieved to see the normal forest in front of her. It no longer had a calming effect on her however, she could feel the tension under the canopy of trees and started running.

She ran as fast as she could. She ran until she couldn’t feel her feet and kept on running. Finally when she couldn’t go any farther she collapsed to her knees on the ground, trying to catch her breath. She felt better, even though she still couldn’t catch her breath. She didn’t know what the hell that was but she felt better knowing it was farther away.

As she caught her breath she got to her feet. Man she needed to hit the gym more she thought to herself. She turned around, and stood in disbelief. The black wall was almost fully surrounding her now, mere inches away from her, she instantly started backing up, but still couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She heard the whispering again, but it was more fervent, anguished, almost tormented.

She didn’t dare turn her back on it now, she knew that whatever it was, that IT wanted her.

She kept backing up, fascinated with how the blackness was writhing, turning into itself right in front of her eyes. She realized how cold it was, freezing almost, she had to get out of there. Knowing she needed to move she slowly turned, ready to run for it,
but there was only blackness.

© 2017 Mj Gale

 

The Platform Pt.4

I stayed there, un-moving for what seemed like an eternity, I almost felt a bit of peace come over me before I realized…

Mj Gale3 Comments

There had to be a way out. I got myself standing and half stumbled to where I thought the edge was. The floor was glowing bright enough that I could see where it stopped. I grab a piece of the pile, a hand I think, and throw it toward the dark part of the ground and listen. There is no noise. It was obviously a drop off. I start moving along the edge and it becomes apparent that we were on a giant rectangular platform. I look up for anything that might help me, but it’s too dark to see anything at all. Then I hear the whoosh again just in time for me to dive to the floor.

I stayed until the second whoosh came back through, hoping my new adversary was still on the pile. I listen as hard as I can but I don’t hear anything. I stay still for a few more minutes but the floor is just too hot. I crawl back over to my created pile and very carefully and as quietly as I can, begin to climb up it. When I am almost to the top I struggle to try to see if he was up there or if anything was moving, either it was too dark or he wasn’t there. I climbed the rest of the way to the top, lay backwards face up, and keep as still as possible. I thought I’d heard a noise to my left but I didn’t budge, I needed time to think, and it was still so hot and I was SO thirsty. I stayed there, un-moving for what seemed like an eternity, I almost feel a bit of peace come over me before I realiz that is probably a bad thing.

I need to stay alert, I need a game plan. My Brain is so foggy, I can’t think of anything except an ice cold drink. Right then I feel the pile move, and I know he must be climbing up it. I continue my attempt to be as quiet as before. He obviously wasn’t wanting to try to work together to find a way out, but I wasn’t sure I could do what he did to me. I hold as still as I can while I feel the pile move ever so slightly. It was so hot, I was so thirsty, my Brain was so disoriented, what if I was just imagining it moving..? Finally I sense that he is near, he was obviously trying to move slow and quiet, I can tell he is near my feet, I pull my knees into my chest, struggling to see any type of shape in front of me, but it was still just darkness.

I sense it before I feel him, he was on his knees groping around the top of the pile. I close my eyes, hesitating briefly, before shooting my legs out and hitting him square in the chest. He shot backwards yelling out and grabbing for something as he flew down onto the floor. He instantly starts screaming as he hits the ground; there is an awful, grinding noise accompanying his screams. The red light is now back and almost on-top of me above the pile, a dark, dark red that was finally illuminating the room. I look and am able to see him down there, the floor was glowing bright orange, and there were hundreds of spikes sticking out of it now, and the spikes were turning. He was punctured and being ground up. As his screams finally subside I realize I am covered up to my knees on-top of the pile. Then he stops completely, and it is eerily quiet again.

There is a loud noise on the other end of the platform, I see two large doors open from what seemed to be nowhere, light fills the area. I squint but all I can see is the gore left behind. The floor is no longer glowing and the spikes are gone, all that remains is an array of body parts and blood covering everything. I climb down and hesitantly head to the open door. When I reach it I can see a bright bright white room, with a single item. I step into the white room, and stare at the small black table in the middle of the room, on it there was just one thing.
A bottle of water.

© 2017 Mj Gale

Pt.1     Pt.2     Pt.3

The Platform Pt.3

The few spots of ground visible between the body parts, now appeared to be glowing a faint orange.

Mj Gale3 Comments

I push the head off me and sit up as I begin feeling around me, I touch another head my fingers squishing into it’s eye. I yank my hand back and fall back onto a torso. I was fully surrounded in body parts and everything was wet and sticky from all the blood. It was so quiet and so hot I felt like I was in an oven, which now reeked of the coppery smell of blood. I tried to find the flicker of light but even that was gone. The few spots of ground visible between the body parts, now appeared to be glowing a faint orange. I reach down to touch the ground next to the torso and pull my hand back as my fingers instantly blister from the heat. The ground was on fire from below.

I had to move. It was sweltering everywhere, I was so thirsty and completely disoriented. I climbing on top of the torso, and I begin to move pieces of the people that had previously been there with me on that platform into a pile that I could climb onto. There was so much blood that I kept slipping back down but I just keep trying. I pile more and more pieces until the pile is almost as tall as I am. It is enough so that the heat from the ground is not as hot as it had felt before.

I climb onto the top again screaming out as I feel a hand grab my arm from below. “Help me” was all I heard from the other side of that arm, as it pulls me down. He was stronger than me and I lost my balance and tumbled down my pile hitting the hot ground. He fell on top of me pushing me even harder into the burning ground. It was so hot I screamed and tried to push him off of me. “I’m so sorry I just don’t know what we are supposed to do!” He scrambled off of me and pulled me up in one smooth movement. It was still dark, but the glowing floor was bright enough that I could make out the outline of him, and he was huge.

I started to climb back up my hill and he followed, when we got to the top I tried to see if we could see anymore of the room. It was too dark though. Then we heard a deep voice, it sounded like it came from within the entire room yet from outside the room. It was so loud it shook us and made pieces from the pile fall. All it said was: “THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE” I barely had time to register what the voice had said before I feel him shove me off the pile onto the glowing floor. I hit hard, hard enough for the breath to be knocked out of me. I roll away just as I hear him slam to the ground where I was. I struggle to get up, everything is hurting and I am still sticky with blood and trying to catch my Breath. I crawl away while trying to stand up and make it to the other side of the pile.

Continued in Pt. 4 of 4…

© 2017 Mj Gale

The Platform Pt.2

I feel the people around me yet no one is making a noise, all of us anxious for what comes next.

Mj Gale3 Comments

As we are all pushed forward we step onto another platform, it’s still complete darkness. No one is saying a word. I’m pushed forward even more as we hear the doors of the tram close and feel the gust of wind as it leaves us all standing on the platform in the darkness. I feel the people around me yet no one is making a noise, all of us anxious for what comes next. It feels like an eternity, the quietness, the darkness, the unspoken energy in the room increasing to a level where it feels like you could choke on it. As we continues to wait, we finally see a glimmer of a red light far away.

It flickers almost as if it was toying with us, getting bigger and then flickering away, brighter and then darker and then gone again. When I try to focus on it, the light seems to disappear and then reappear as soon as I avert my eyes. It was then I realized that the room was hot, and getting hotter. I still couldn’t see anything besides the flickering red light in the distance but I can tell the people were starting to take off their coats and clothes. It is so hot I can feel the heat come through my shoes, I’m sweating and I feel my ear start dripping blood again. The light has gotten closer and appears to be constant now even when I stare directly at it, it keeps changing from a red to an orange to a darker red color. I’m almost transfixed by the transformations of it when suddenly I feel myself get pushed to the ground.

The ground is so hot it burns my hands as I began to push myself up. In the commotion someone steps on my hand and I yell out as I feel my finger snap backwards. As soon as I yell out everyone started screaming at once. It happens so quickly that it’s disorienting. I’m trying to get off the burning hot ground while trying to ignore my finger throbbing and everyone is screaming. It is still so dark and I can’t see the flicker anymore. The screams are so loud, I just curl into a fetal position to avoid being crushed again and put my hands over my ears.

I am thankful now, that I didn’t take off my coat even though it was so hot, because now it was protecting me, a little bit at least, from the heat radiating from the floor. I am sweating so much and it is so loud. I am completely disoriented and barely even notice a sudden whooshing sensation, until the deafening silence that followed, and then there is a second whoosh. I stay curled up but try to get a glimpse of something, anything, but it’s still so dark. I hear a thump and then another thump, and then so many thumps and I yell out when something falls on me. I reached to move it off me and scream when I realize it is a head.

Continued in Pt.3 of 4

© 2017 Mj Gale

The Platform – Pt.1

There’s nothing except darkness in the tunnel as we enter it, pure and utter darkness…

Mj Gale2 Comments

We are standing outside on a platform, all of us jammed together like sardines waiting for the next tram. Everyone is anxious, restless and obviously wants to get on this next one. We feel it in our feet before we see it and everyone simultaneously inches forward. As it rounds the bend we see it come into view, and They are on the roof of it as usual. Everyone hunkers down as the beams start shooting from their guns. The blasts come quick and hot, the person next to me no longer has a face and someone is using his body as a shield. The tram is closer now, coming to a stop in front of us.

The shots are still coming, quick and plentiful. It’s so eerily quiet no one is making any noise. I’m crouching as low as I can, trying not to look at the lady near me who is looking for her arm on the platform underneath everyone’s feet. The doors open and there’s a massive rush of pressure from behind as everyone tries to make it inside. I’m pretty much pushed into the tram as a beam shoots near me. I stumble in and feel blood on me, I put my hand up to my head and feel the bottom part of my ear is missing and bleeding profusely. The doors close and I stare at what’s left on the platform, probably at least 15 bodies laying still, I see the ladies arm but not her, I see a foot lying sideways. I feel the blood dripping down my body from my ear as the tram leaves this platform.

I look around inside and everyone appears dazed, no one really looking at anyone or meeting anyone’s eyes. I look forward towards where the tram is heading and begin to feel nervous again as we get closer to the large mountain ahead. There’s nothing except darkness in the tunnel as we enter it, pure and utter darkness. I glance around again as the last of the light fades and everyone is staring at the floor, blood dripping everywhere, still no noise other than the sound of the tram on the tracks. It feels as if we go on for a really long time in the darkness, long enough for the blood to start to dry on me, when I finally feel the tram start to slow down and then come to a stop. I hear the doors open, there are no lights anywhere, no noise to be heard, just the urgency to move.

Continued in Pt.2 of 4…

© 2017 Mj Gale

The Shrieking Room

Waiting and waiting. I see something flicker at the edge of the fireplace.

Mj Gale2 Comments

As I am introduced to the husband I take a look around the living room. I ask him to show me the rest of the house, and I take notes as he leads me room to room. He’s rambling on about the various trim and details that they have updated. He leads me to a small door, about half the size of a normal door with a lock on the outside. He opens it and motions for me to go in, alarm bells start going off in my head, but he says the other three bedrooms are this direction. I follow him in, he turns on lights as we go.

We are in a room that is all cedar, nothing sheet-rocked or finished yet. The height is seems to be almost 5 feet total, I’m slouching down as he is. It reminds me of an attic space. I question if this is a bedroom and he looks at me as if I’m crazy. Of course it is. The room is also very narrow, I cannot see where it ends, we continue forward. It seems as if we are going down, in a circular motion. Everything is still bare and empty, no furniture nothing at all. He leads me farther, and it seems by now we are under ground, I’m getting increasingly uncomfortable. I again question him, he gets angry and asks if I even want to see the other rooms or what I’m doing there then. I hesitantly agree and we keep going. I do ask if we are under ground and he says of course.

We finally get to the “bottom”  for the room, or what I’m assuming is the bottom; it’s the end, we can go no farther. On the end wall there is a giant fireplace. It’s hug and extremely ornate, the details are fantastic. It is obviously hand made by someone with exquisite attention to detail. I mention that and he grunts something. I ask what he said and he repeated, I’ll just leave it to you then. He turns around and leaves me. I’m standing there stunned, looking around me and wondering what was happening. I start to walk back when I hear the door at the end lock and then the lights turn off. I scramble for my phone to get the flashlight on and try to figure out what I’m going to do. I’ve dropped my notepad and am starting to panic. I hear a noise from the fireplace and I step closer.

Maybe there’s a way out through there…. As I edge closer I hear the noise get louder. It’s a scratching sound, with a slight screeching noise behind the scratching. I edge closer and closer, the noise is getting louder. I hesitate when my head is right by the opening in the fireplace, I feel a cold musty air coming out of there. The noise is much louder now. My light barely seems to penetrate the darkness from within the fireplace. The scratching is so loud it sounds as if it’s coming closer. Then it stopped. It’s so quiet I can’t hear anything other than my breathing. I’m not moving. Waiting and waiting. I see something flicker at the edge of the fireplace.

What was that….it came out again. And crawled over the edge. It was a giant, humongous spider. bigger than anything I had ever seen or imagined in my life. Easily the size of a football. It’s crawled out and was resting on the mantel of the fireplace, just staring at me, it was so large and so close I could see it’s eyes, just staring. I want to scream but nothing is coming out, I want to run but can’t seem to move. Then I hear more scratching, all of a sudden hundreds more come out of the fireplace, they’re all about the size of a softball.

There are so many of them, just coming out and out of the fireplace, until the entire fireplace is covered with them. The whole wall is covered with them, all just sitting at staring at me, their eyes reflecting in my light, it’s so quiet again. I don’t know what to do. I feel if I move or make a noise something is going to happen, but I’m so terrified I am shaking, my light is shaking which is making their eyes seem even more evil. Then I hear one long continuous shrieking noise…they all seem as though they are one giant being, rocking back and forth to this noise.

I know it is time to move, I’m afraid of making any sudden movements but I start stepping back, step by step. The noise is getting louder and louder, I’m almost far enough away I think, maybe I can turn around and run, but just then the noise gets so loud my ears ring, it’s so loud. They are still there just staring at me, hundreds of eyes reflected in my light… the noise stops, simultaneously just as it stops, they all jump at me. I’m over 10 feet away but they are all on me in that instant. I’m screaming and screaming as I drop my phone and it all goes black…

© 2017 Mj Gale

Distress

There was a malevolence in the air, whatever was in that stairwell with me was causing the baby to cry…

Mj Gale8 Comments

I can hear crying, I can’t tell what is crying, I can barely hear it. I realize I am in a stairwell, a dark and winding stairwell made of stone. I cant decide if I should be going up or down the stairs, but something is telling me to get to the crying, and quickly. It seems to be fading and I know that time is of the essence. I’m looking all around me to try to find a clue or a hint telling me where I am or if I should be going up or down. The entire stairwell is made of stone, no railing of any sort and parts of the steps are crumbling on the stairs. There are no windows or any openings along the walls, and no lighting other than some flickering from a candle right around the corner above me. I take that as my hint and start up the stairs, figuring light is better than the darkness.

However before I’m even a full turn around the stairwell from where I was, I hear the crying intensify, while simultaneously getting harder to hear. I turn around and head back down the stairs, around the next bend, and then another turn around. There’s almost no light now, and the crying does not appear to get any louder, but still intense. I can feel the urgency to get to the crying. I start going a little quicker down the stairs, hoping for some sign that this is the right way to be going. There is almost no light left now, I’ve lost count of how many turns I’ve made. The crying still doesn’t seem any louder yet sounds even more pained now.

Still hesitant as I don’t know if this is the right way or not, I continue making strides down and down. It’s pitch black now, and My hands are running along the sides guiding me down. The crying is at the point of screaming now, it sounds as if it’s in pain, and i am almost sure now that it is a baby. Which makes me want to move faster but it’s just so dark. It still doesn’t sound any closer though. What if this isn’t the right way? I keep going down, because now it would be too far to go back up. I can’t get any sense of what way I should be going other than that I KNOW I have to get to the screaming baby.

I keep going down and down. Hands guiding me on both sides of the dark stairwell. All of a sudden I know I am in the wrong place, I sense it instantly. I freeze, still hearing the baby screaming, but no louder and no quieter.I feel a rush of ice cold air blow onto my body, strong enough to push me back a step. I turned around in the dark, ready to run back up, I take one step and run directly into a wall. I put my hands all around me and realize the stairwell back up was no longer there. I had no option except to continue downward. The baby’s screaming was still happening, so tiny, so pained, and so far away.

I hesitantly start to move back downward, hands along the sides again. It felt as if I was walking into a freezer, it was so cold and so dark. The screaming ongoing. Step by step I head downward. The urgency stronger with each step. I quicken my pace, and keep going down and down, around and around this stairwell in complete darkness. I was shivering it was so cold, just hoping that the screaming would get closer, hoping I was almost there. There was a malevolence in the air, whatever was in that stairwell with me was causing the baby to cry, that much I knew. If only I could reach it!!

It seemed endless, dark, freezing, down and down. Suddenly everything was quiet. No screaming. I couldn’t even hear my breath. I stopped. Hands out on the sides of the stairwell. Everything was so black. I could feel this intense pressure In the air mixed with the freezing temperature, I tried to inch forward and walked into something. It felt different than the sides of the stairwell, my hands were trying to figure out what I was feeling in the darkness, it felt like nothing I had ever touched before. Suddenly I hear a faint whisper, it was so quiet I doubted myself, had actually heard it? Then it came again, just one word whispered so close it seemed to be in my face…”now”

© 2017 Mj Gale

The Swarm

As soon as I looked I felt terror through my entire body

Mj Gale3 Comments

We are huddled in a corner, it’s a very large room and almost completely dark except for a few candles in the corner where we are. There had to be hundreds in this room, as close together as we could get, yet the other side of the room was empty. Everyone was whispering, there was one phrase that kept getting repeated, “the swarm, the swarm, the swarm”

I’m looking around, asking what they were talking about, but everyone looks dazed, almost drugged. I realize now everyone was whispering to themselves, unaware there was someone next to them.

I’m trying to move but there was so many people crammed into this corner that I couldn’t get them to budge. I tried being more forceful and it was like pushing a rock. I couldn’t figure out what was going on but I knew I needed to get out of there. The flickering lights from the candles were disorienting.

Then I heard an actual voice, deep voice talking to someone else. It was coming from the empty side of the room. Instantly I knew it meant trouble. I tried to blend in and get into the rocking sway of the people all around me, and I started whispering. I kept my eyes down as I heard the deep voices come closer.

“It’s time to move them” I heard. I tried not to panic because I felt, down to my core, that I had to get out of there before they moved us to wherever they had planned. I kept looking up for exits, a window, anything that I could run to. It was just too large and dark of room, I couldn’t see anything past all these people.

The group started shuffling forward all of a sudden, and I felt myself pushed from behind so I got into their rhythm again, keeping my head down and muttering as they were. I could tell they had us headed to the opposite side of the room, knew I couldn’t let myself get that far.

I wait until what I think is the middle of the room, and I raise my head, desperate to find an escape route. As soon as I looked I felt terror through my entire body. The room was not dark because of a lack of light, the entire side of the room where they were sending us was moving, it appeared to be an open mouth. This mouth ahead was made up of millions of tiny little moving objects; the darkness itself appeared to be moving, and I could hear now a slight buzz above the muttering. Instantly I knew what the swarm was. We were being walked to a death within the swarm.

I stopped and was instantly pushed forward by the people surrounding me. I decided action was better than surrendering, and just turned around and started climbing over the people. Onto their shoulders and over their bodies. I heard one of the deep voices yell something and just kept going back. Back was better than whatever was in front of us. I kept going, scrambling over these people, (why couldn’t they wake up??) I fell, jumped right back up, kept going and climbing over and over, yet I still felt as if I was being pushed forward to The Swarm, the deep voices were much closer to me but I kept going. Just as soon as I could see I was almost to the end of the group of people, I heard the deep voices, they seemed right on top of me… Then I felt a hard hand grab my neck, and everything went black.

© 2017 Mj Gale

The Orb

… even as I’m lying down, I know it is a futile attempt.

Mj Gale2 Comments

I’m running…running towards a giant orange ball of light. I can’t quite seem to figure out what it is but I know that I am also being chased. Whatever is behind me is definitely worse than what is in front of me. I keep trying to look behind to see what it is, but all I can see is a giant black Orb. I trip and fall down, and jump right back up, but now the Orb is almost completely on top of me.

The orange ball of light is getting closer, it’s incredibly massive, filling the entire skyline. I can now hear a large thundering sound. Next to me is a little creek bed that has dried up, I think maybe hiding inside the bed will be better than proceeding toward the orange light. I dive down into the dry creek bed and cover myself with the debris of leaves and sticks in an attempt to hide myself. I hold my breath and try to calm myself down, because even as I’m lying down, I know it is a futile attempt.

The black Orb does not slow down and instead moves quicker and stalls right above me. I can sense the malice in it and know that it means me harm. Now my attempt seems even more foolish. I slide down to try to get beneath the Orb, jump back up, and start running towards the orange light again. I arrive there in what seems like merely 8 to 10 steps and realize that I am about to run into a giant wall of flames.

My instinct is telling me to run forward, yet every ounce of logic is saying this is more foolish than the creek bed. I look behind me and see the black Orb is almost 2 feet away and coming even quicker than before. So I just turn around and run straight into the flames. As soon as I cross the threshold I instantly feel a force-field around me, moving with me as I run through. I look around and the black Orb has paused at the threshold, it almost appeared to be hesitating.

I pause and watch it, I could tell it still meant to cause me harm; and yet, as I was standing there in the midst of these powerful flames, surrounded by this force-field, the Orb backed up. It kept backing up… Then suddenly, it rushed forward into the flames. I heard this noise outside of the dull roar of the flames, an almost pained shriek, as the black Orb was engulfed by the flames; it was gone in a poof of black smoke.

I could not believe my eyes. I could sense the panic and danger was gone, while simultaneously realizing my protective force-field was starting to flicker. So once again, I turned and ran. I knew the force-field was getting thinner because the roar of the flames were getting louder, and I could actually feel the heat. I could see the end of the flames ahead, and ran with every ounce of my being. I could feel the heat and the roar intensify. Right at the point I began to feel the pain of the heat, I burst through the end of the flames and stumbled, falling onto the ground. I rolled onto my back, trying to catch my breath as I stared up at the night sky in complete bewilderment. Then, everything went black.

© 2017 Mj Gale