Daymare

As I walk through the park I take notice of the scenery around me. Trees line the pathway, branches bare. As I walk, I shuffle the leaves upon the ground. The sun is at it's noontime position, making it very warm. Not a single cloud is in the sky.

I notice that there are no people around. Everyone's probably inside, eating lunch or something. I brush leaves off a bench and sit down. I can see a dead fountain, and a gravel walkway, which I assume crunches at a step.

A chilling breeze blows through the park. It seems to carry whispers, but that is probably just my imagination playing tricks on me. The breeze makes me feel sleepy, and I lie down onto the bench and fall asleep.

When I awaken, it is dark. The sun is still in the sky, but clouds are covering it. Lightning strikes, and thunder crashes. I quickly sit up in my seat. I can hear gravel crunching, quite audibly. "Who would want to be in this storm?" I think to myself. Lightning strikes again, and I can see a large figure.

I was curious, I wanted to see who would be walking around in this storm. I walk slowly toward where I saw the large figure. Lightning flashed again, and I could see it was no longer there.

I could hear leaves crunching and twigs snapping, as if someone were walking on them, in the trees. I walked toward the trees to see what was there. Lightning flashed again, and I could see a deformed figure, with scars noticeable through it's fur.

I start running toward the entrance of the park. I can hear the creature behind me, not quite walking, but not running either. Lightning hits a tree nearby, which falls over in front of the entrance. The tree starts to catch fire, and I try to find a way around it.

The thing moans, it is easily carried by the wind. I start to panic, frantically trying to find a way around the fire, with no success. The creature was slowly walking towards me, seemingly grining in the light from the fire. I look up as the creature's hand takes my face.

It picks me up and tears part of my face in the process. It throws me into the fire. I can feel pain, immense pain, mixed with panic.

I wake up feeling the heat of the fire. I realize with horror that my house is aflame. I run outside, and once outside I touch my face. There's a tear in my face, like from a large hand...

-NT