The world is colourless.
That's what I thought as I stumbled through the forest, a rope in hand.
Yes. I know what you're thinking. What on Earth was I doing in a forest with a rope at 1AM? Was I going to kill myself? Originally, yes. It was actually pretty easy sneaking out once my parents were asleep. I went out through my bedroom window. Having a bedroom downstairs certainly had its perks sometimes. I was going to kill myself.
But now, I don't think I can go through with it. What if I screw up and I dangle from a tree, dying a slow painful death. Not as intended. This forest is so dark and desolate; I can't see a damned thing. The trees all look the same, and I'm pretty sure this is the fifth time I walked past that bush. I'm on the verge of tears, just thinking about what an idiot I am.
What possessed me into coming into this forest anyway? I've been terrified of this place for as long as I can remember. My granddad always told me scary stories of this forest. Horrifying, pale creatures with red eyes and huge claws they use to slash their victims. Not to mention the rambling he does about these sorts of creatures… Grandma said he's being going senile; but sometimes the things he said were just horrifying, as though he'd come across these creatures first hand.
Lost in my panicked thoughts about evil creatures and my senile grandfather, I caught my foot on a tree root, and went falling towards the ground. Instinctively, I hold out my hands to steady my fall, and I end up grazing them and my knees on the hard, cold, coniferous forest floor. The tears make their way down my cheeks. I'm such a dumbass. I'm terrified, lost and now I'm crying. How long will it be till it gets light? Every tree looks like a person, ready to kill me and put my organs in plastic bags and sell them on the black market. As I looked up I saw something… Something that would forever be in my memory; till the day I die.
There was someone, no, something, standing there, watching me… but… It didn't appear to have any facial features at all, yet I still felt its burning gaze. It was impossibly tall, at least eight feet. Very thin, too, it just made the thing look taller! I'm frozen in fear on the ground, staring at it. I want to run, but I can't. Something is stopping me, and it's not my bloody knees. I feel something tighten around my ankles and I realise that I didn't trip over a tree root.
And for a moment, everything was colourless.
I awake the next morning, at the edge of the forest. I no longer have the rope, but I don't care about that. My knees are sticky with partially dry blood. I don't remember what happened after I feel that thing grab me by my ankles. I don't understand how it did it; it was in front of me the whole time. I'm not worried about that. I try to stand up to head back home, only to feel like my ankles are on fire. I look down to see what look like horrendous burns. I don't remember fire; I don't remember anything at all… I steady myself on a nearby branch, slowly standing up despite the searing pain.
As I slowly limp back home, I can't help but think that this won't be the last time I'll encounter this thing.