Don't forget to like and comment so I can write more enthusiastically.

---

Everything is dark. I can hear the footsteps of entities running towards me, and as the sounds get closer, my heart beats faster.

"I must run away!"

But I don't know where to escape to. In fact, I don't even remember when I arrived here or why I'm here.

The tension created by the footsteps takes over my body, causing me to run in a random direction.

As my steps quicken, I hear the footsteps in the darkness speed up as well.

Damn it, they're chasing after me...

I ignored the burning in my lungs and the struggle to breathe as I continued to run. With every beat, despair grew inside me. Moreover, the footsteps behind me had already caught up.

Just as my eyes were about to close from exhaustion, I saw a light ahead. It was the kind of light that a fire would produce.

If there's fire, there must be someone else. I need to reach there quickly.

Despite the difficulty, I took a deep breath and ran towards the fire with all the strength I had left.

As I approached the fire, the footsteps behind me began to fade and eventually disappeared.

When I got close enough, I saw what was causing the light. It was an old oil lamp hanging behind a tree.

Curious about what was keeping it lit, I circled the thick tree.

What I saw made me take a step back.

It was a scarecrow. Its arms were raised to the sides, and its right hand was holding the oil lamp. In its other hand was a very old-looking, rusty scythe.

The scarecrow's head was tilted downwards, so I couldn't see its face. Seeing that it wasn't moving, I approached and examined it closely.

The scarecrow must have been at least two and a half meters tall. I could only reach up to its chest.

When I got close enough, I saw a cage embedded deep within the scarecrow's chest.

"What is this?" I whispered and leaned my head closer to the scarecrow's chest to examine the cage more closely.

If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

No matter how close I got to the cage, I couldn't see anything but darkness inside.

Just as I was about to pull my head back, I saw a red energy spark inside the cage. As soon as I saw it, it disappeared.

"*Branch snapping SFX*"

When I heard the sound of a branch snapping, I stepped back in fear and looked at the scarecrow in front of me to understand where the sound came from. When I looked at it, I realized the reason for the sound. The scarecrow's right hand, which was holding the scythe, had shifted its position to the ground.

Seeing this, I felt my heart start to pound rapidly, and I began to sweat.

Something was wrong...

I slowly stepped backward, trying to get as far away from the scarecrow as possible.

"*Branch snapping SFX*"

This time it happened right before my eyes! The scarecrow's right hand moved down to the ground. Frozen in place by this movement, the fear inside me was so great that it devoured my thoughts, making it impossible for me to decide what to do.

"HELP ME!"

A thin, terrifying scream from the throat, which hurt my ears, reflexively made me look to the right.

When I looked to the right... I saw another scarecrow. It was looking down, and both of its arms were stretched out to the sides. It held an old, rusty scythe in its left hand. In its right hand was an old oil lamp, just like the other scarecrow.

The oil lamp hanging from the scarecrow's right hand was swinging as if confirming its movement.

My fear was confirmed... these scarecrows were moving.

I clenched my teeth and gathered all my courage to slowly turn my head to the left.

It was a confirmation...

When I turned my head and looked at the scarecrow, my entire body froze in fear. I was so scared that I felt nauseous.

The scarecrow in front of the tree had lifted its head and was looking directly at me...

Its eyes were glowing red, and its mouth was filled with metal teeth...

Just a second later, a red glow spread from the cage in the scarecrow's chest, traveling through its entire body.

Along with this, the scarecrow's red eyes glowed even brighter. The depths of its open mouth, full of metal teeth, were also glowing red.

The red light swirled around the scarecrow's limbs, seemingly giving them life.

When all this ended, the red light inside the cage went out, leaving behind countless red eyes. There were too many red eyes inside the cage to count...

My instincts told me to scream. I followed them, opened my mouth, and tried to scream with all my might, but no sound came out.

I was so scared that my voice was stuck in my throat, and I couldn't take a step.

I wanted to die; the only way out of here was death. But I had nothing to do it with. If I had a knife, I'm sure I would have killed myself to escape. This much fear was not something I could handle.

Thankfully, God heard my thoughts and didn't prolong this any further. The scarecrow in front of me got into a running position and charged straight at me. The last thing I remember was the scythe in its left hand swinging towards me.

...

"AHHHHHHH!!"

I screamed as I jumped out of bed and started vomiting immediately. There was no food in my stomach, so only stomach acid came out of my mouth.

After I finished vomiting, I got up from the bed and looked around. This was my room. The walls were moldy and damp, my bed was quite old with yellow stains on it, and the desk in my room was quite good compared to the rest of the room. There was nothing else in my room.

I had seen it by the side of the trash and brought it here. I must say, the desk was in quite good condition. I wonder why they threw it away?

Well, now is not the time to think about that. I must quickly clean my bed and eat something.

I grabbed the bed sheets and pulled them off, throwing them to the floor.

I woke up from a terrible nightmare and returned to the real nightmare that is my life.