The darkness becomes her:
Her eyes snapped open. She had been awoken from her long, dream-filled sleep to complete silence. The old timber-made house had been plunged into darkness hours ago. The house creaked as the howling wind crashed against the house like tidal waves. She felt a wave of panic hit her. A branch from an old willow tree struck against her window and the light from the moonlight refleted it against her bedroom wall to look like claws stretching out to her. She sat up to comfirm reality. Her nightmare had shaken her and she had to take a moment to prove it was not real.
The early hours of dawn were yet still to approach. She shook off her tiredness, arose from her soft, safe resting place and felt the cold, hard wooden floor beneath her feet. She wandered over to her small windowsill to peer at the sinister atmosphere occuring outside. She watched as black crows soared across the sky and landed in the swaying trees as the howling wind glided through their branches. The street was deserted, only a couple of alley cats dashing out of the way of the wicked weather. The night seemed peaceful enough, and her scary nightmare was now just a blurry memory. As she started back towards her soft bed, she caught sight of a moving shadow in the dark corner of her sleeping chamber. Panic once again hit her as she dived back into her bed and pulled her layer of bed quilts over her head. She slowly peered back over the quilt to the spot where the shadow had appeared. Nothing but an empty corner. Had it really happened? Had it been a trick of the mind? It had gone as quickly as it had appeared. She slowly got up again and glided over to her chamber door. The handle creaked as she turned it. Nothing but a dark hallway lay behind the heavy wooden door. She jumped as the house gave another loud creak as it was blasted by the howling wind outside. The disturbance had shaken her quite a bit. A glass of milk, then bed may soothe her thoughts. As she slowly glided down the dark hallway, she heard the branches from the willow trees surrounding the garden, smash against the timber house again and again.
As she entered the moonlit living room, she was startled by a tapping at the window. The old willow tree once again tapping with it's spiky claw. She felt a shiver go up her spine, not because of the cold surroundings. She hesitated as she watched the tapping claw, tap, tap, tap. She could not bear it any longer. As she glided over to the peeling painted back door, the house gave a shudder and she was blasted by howling wind as she opened the doorway to darkness.
The wind was not cold but mild. The breeze was not batting at her skin, but stroking, almost like the wind was meaning her no harm tonight. As she watched the crows hide for shelter in the tall willow trees, she noticed they rested in all but one. A lonely decrepit willow tree stood on it's own in isolation at the front of the garden. Tap, tap, tap, one of the decaying willow branches knocked against the living room window, almost like calling for attention. She slowly approached the dying willow, feeling a sense of sympathy and fear. Tap, tap, tap, she made a grab at it and snapped off the tapping claw.
As the tapping ceased, she felt more at ease. The willow branch now too short to reach the glass living room window. As her fear returned back to reassurance, she looked down at the claw shaped branch she held in her hand. She stared down wonderingly at it. She thought how starnge it was that she had never spotted this oddly shaped branch before. She made to discard the branch in the nearest bramble bush, she once again spotted the moving shadow, winding its way through the other young heathly willow trees. Her breathing increased as she caught sight of this familiar shadow, darting out of the open.
She stared at it curiously. Was it wanting her to follow it? Her fear was high, but her curiousity was higher. As she observed the stange spectre she noticed that it wasn't hiding, but waiting. As it moved out of the brambles, it seemed to be beckoning her towards it. Dangerous it may be, curiousity got the better of her. As she started towards it, the shadow glided through the garden wall like a feather in the wind. She hesitated. A strange spectre appears in the night, was it wise to follow it? But too late, she was already following the spectre through the garden gate and out onto the quiet, lonely street.
As she slowly walked down the quiet deserted street, the street lamps flickered and more shadows from dark alleys and corners crept amongst her. The spectre slowly glided infront of her and beckoned her towards an old abandoned forest. She took in the eerie atmosphere, as the shadows closed in on her. As she reached the high, rusted entrance gate, she felt a shiver down her spine. A spectre leading someone into the forest in the dead of night; it doesn't come across as a fairytale, more like a nightmare. As she thinks about turning back, the wind picked up and blew her in the direction of the old decaying forest. The leaves also began to beckon her towards the great forest of the deep. She squeezed her eyes shut and found herself passing through the entrance of the heavy gate, as it shut behind her.
As she slowly reopened her eyes, she noticed not a sound was to be heard. The wind no longer blew and everything had fallen silent. The decrepit, decaying forest around her creaked and moaned, almost like they were alive. Her silent spectre friend has disapperaed into the darkness, gone back to where the shadows realm. As the eerie atmosphere grew more and more frightening, her breathing became more rapid. It was almost like she had been woken from a trance, a trance filled with curiosity and desire for mystery. This new dark world frightened her and it was time to return to her own peaceful tranquilty. As she slowly reached behind her to place her hand back onto the cold rusting gate, she had a slight sickness that her hand would not land on the cold metal bar but be swallowed by darkness, as would she.
She craned her neck around to peer at the mystery that lay behind her. Her panic hit a nerve as she only caught a glimpse of a continuing dirt track road behind her, no gate, no town, no nothing. Trapped. Trapped in this dark world full of the sinister creatures that lured her here. They had no desire to show her a wonderful secret that they made out to do, but to strike fear into her heart. She saw the dark sinister shapes forming between the trees. Closing in on her, her senses were numbed, only to hope her legs were not. She turned and ran, hopefully to somewhere other than darkness. The shadows lured her to this dying world for a reason but she did not want to sit and wait to find out what that may be. As she ran deeper and deeper into dark nothingness, she heared their noises behind her as they followed They were faster than her, they would catch her. She prayed she would wake up from this terrible nightmare. Deeper and darker still. Images around her became blurry. She could not run any further. The creatures closed in on her. She felt she was being swallowed into nothingness, as if she were being erased from time itself.