Sleeping is hard. It’s abundantly hard when I’m always scared to do it. My eyes frantically snap open seeing mostly dark but hints of light surrounding me, almost as if the stars above the treetops were close enough to touch, but then I see, I see what my deceptive eyes are trying to hide from me. I can’t sleep. Not now. The ground is sticky and wet, the dense mud sticks to my torn clothes and naked body. Heavy breathing fills my ears and my heart with intimate panic, it’s such a poisoned sound. It’s an anxiety packed sound. A memory sparks, it reminds me of high school. Doing track, the heavy breathing, the angst….the running...and feeling that uneasiness. But oh no this fear and torment is much more than a silly game. Much, much more horrifying and deadly.

However, my ears finally come into tune with the branches snapping under my weighted bare feet. How did I get here? I hear the leaves crunching. Why do the leaves have to make such a loud noise? The wind whips against my bare skin, giving me distinct bumps across my body. The rain bursts against my face, giving me a taste of water. The burning sensation in my legs start to feel almost impossible to ignore, and my lungs feel like they are collapsing under the pressure of no air.

The hollering and whistling starts to get louder, and penetrating the air with the alien language. I have never heard this unfamiliar tongues from humans. I hear the dart shoot from the pipe. No please. Tingles fill the back of my head and down my spine, the eyes that once were dreading a blink cannot keep open and soon I can feel myself fade into the black abyss.