The atmosphere.

It was calm and gentle.

No disturbances.

Just… pure tranquility.

The light breeze brushes up against my cheek, becoming chilly.  It wasn’t too rough to irritate, nor was it too soft to tickle.

Vivid, green leaves rustle above me and short, fresh grass sway with the rhythm of the breeze.  Those leaves felt smooth yet firm like leather, but thin and delicate like paper.  Touching them gave me memories of when I was younger, climbing tall trees and resting against the branches, just to admire beautiful sunsets like the one in the distance.

Leaves and grass typically move very arbitrary, but at this moment, it felt as if they were following a distinct pattern.  Or rather, a schedule.  As odd as that may sound, the surroundings, on the other hand, maintain its own schedule that rarely breaks cycle.

Shades of many hues filled and blended together in the sky like a watercolor painting.  The warm colors made me feel serene inside.  Like an innocent child with no issues to worry about.  With that sensation, I could feel the world shape around me.

Plump, brown grey sparrows chirp their songs overhead and the small, quaint stream in front of me flows seamlessly, giving off a bright light as the sunlight reflects towards me.  One sparrow flies overhead toward a small stick nest on a protruding branch.  The shapeless water against the dense and compact rocks creates a mellow trickling sound that massages my ears, and the fish that splash contrasts the distinct pattern mentioned earlier.  Closing my eyes, I feel the wondrous warmth from the rays that shine through the leaves.  The weather was perfect.  Simply put.

My sore back rests against the rough surface of oak tree bark, but it feels comfortable nonetheless.

The unevenness and coarseness of the bark rubs against my back, acting as a massage chair that pinpoints all my pressure spots.  I don’t know how I manage to feel this sore, but complaining about it yields no positive.

I stretch my arms behind my head and let out a deep sigh.  A sigh that contains all my worries and regrets, released into the air, never to be heard from again.  Like the air that fills my lungs, the calming atmosphere fills my mind with thoughts of peace.  My tired legs rest on top of each other.  Relaxation is something that I take very seriously, and I plan to not let it go to waste whenever I have the time.

This is the life.

The life I deserve.

The life that I have such an enormous passion for.

Rustle, rustle...

All of a sudden, my attention diverts to a small tug by my right side.  A young rabbit somehow nestled itself into my jacket pocket.  It rubs its silky, white fur against the cotton fabric like a cat yearning for attention from its owner.  I stare at it for a good ten seconds, and finally I realize the situation.

The rabbit quickly looks up at me and tilts its head, questioning my words. Its dark, glossy eyes shimmer with doubt.  I pet and scratch it between the ears, and the animal begins to twitch its nose.  Smiling, I hesitate and decide to let it stay.

It stays still.  The cute animal suddenly turns its head around and wiggles its ears, as if it has heard something in the distance.

“What’s wrong?  Am I really that boring?” I ask.

Even though I just met this rabbit, I feel a little lonely again.

The rabbit suddenly leaps out my pocket and quickly dashes behind the oak tree.  The sudden movement piques my interest.

This rabbit’s weird.

I turn around to peek behind the tree to see what is going on.

“What in the world…” I question softly.  “It just...disappeared.”

My eyes squint as the sun shines through the foliage.  Then, my eyes suddenly widen, and my mouth lets out a small gasp.

“No way.”

Two blood red eyes emerge from the thick, green cover of the forest.  They intently stare deep into my soul, fueling my body with fear.  I hear a consistent, aberrant growl, menacing and threatening.  

Pant, pant...grrr...

I push my hands off the moist ground and jolt up, cautiously backing away from the tree.  Layers of fallen leaves crunch and crackle underneath the soles of my sneakers as I take one step back at a time.  It begins to crawl towards me.  

A large four-legged creature that looks like it came from the depths of the underworld.  Its entire body structure emanates death and smells rotten and unearthly.  I move my head down and look at its feet.  The grass that it’s standing on died instantaneously.  Particles of dark purple and black swirl around the creature, slowly sucking away the wildlife that surrounds it.  Anything it touches dies or rots.  I can only assume the same goes for humans.

“Damn this creature, ruining everything…”

I gasp.  My eyes couldn’t believe it.  It should have been the first thing I noticed.  The rabbit that nestled in my jacket pocket earlier is now crushed between the sharp, white fangs of this creature.  Blood dripped down from the mouth.  Its neck brutally mutilated by the canine teeth.  The white fur tainted red with blood is no longer smooth.  Wet, sticky fur is the only thing left.

Wait.  Canine teeth.  This...animal has canine teeth.

That’s the only word I could think of.  Animal.

I quickly look back up.

“It’s the middle of the d-day… You ha-have to be kidding me…It-It’s changed again?!”

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My breath starts to speed up, becoming shakier and shakier with every second that passes.  It feels like minutes have gone by.  But the beast would have moved by then.  I can feel my whole body tense up as the fear grows inside my mind.  My frail arms and weak legs began to shake intensely, and my palms are clammy and sweaty.

Thump thump...thump thump...

A pause.  The stream and the trees are the only things creating sound.  Time seems to have slowed down.

In an instant, the beast lunges itself at me at an unnatural speed and roars violently.  I manage to react quickly and dodge out of the way by twisting my body to the left.  I stumble and fall down to the ground, but quickly get up.

I could utter no words.

Another pause.

The beast turns its head and stares me down.  Its fangs and claws look as sharp as broken glass and as vicious as demons.  Demons that want to lure innocent children to their deaths.  That type of demon.  

It prepares itself for another pounce.  I can see the eternal darkness dissipate off its body like translucent mist.  

“The hell is this thing?!” I scream out, hoping the beast is intelligent enough to understand my words.

The leaves that overhang above turn dark purple and rotted, drifting down towards the ground in a shriveled state.

“Damn it.  Damn it!  Damn it!!”

Another lunge.  As if it was waiting for my command to continue.  

I dodge to the right, but it was not as elegant as the first.  

My face clenches, and tears start to well up in my eyes.

“Shit!”

I look down and see my right leg mauled by its long claws.  I see the blood rushing down onto the ground, tainting the grass with a rich, pure crimson red.  Screaming in utter pain, I tightly grasp my injured leg and stumble down to my left knee.  Red and purple blood start spilling out like a dam.

“ARGH!!  My leg!!”

So much pain. So much pain.  My unsteady heartbeat matched the flashes of that pain like clockwork.  It happens at such a recurring rate that I grasp my leg even tighter.  My body aches and my I start to breathe unevenly.  I’m getting dizzier and dizzier.  What do I do?

Ripping a piece of fabric off my shirt, I quickly wrap my injury in hopes of stopping the bleeding.

“Not the best, but it’ll have to do…”

It’s odd.

I had the chance to help myself.  By now, the beast would have taken the opportunity to finish me off.

“I’m seeing...double...now…”

I look to my left.  I don’t see the beast.  Then I quickly look to my right.  Nothing.  My legs won’t stop dripping blood like a waterfall, and the shirt is damp with crimson red liquid.  Sweat runs down my forehead.  I use one of my hands to wipe it away, but I end up with a smear of blood stains across my face.

“Where did it go?!” I question myself with worry in my tone.  

My wobbly legs and my anxious mind.  I attempt to stand up.

Pain flashes through my nerves.  Some intuition tells me it’s nearby.  Not because of the scenario I’m in, but because of the point of attacking me.  After all, why else would this beast give up after I perform one dodge and fail another one?  I’m wounded.  It should finish the job.  It should kill me.  But I’m not going down without a fight.  I hope I can at least put one up.

Alright.  Calm down.  In and out...in and out.

My mind blanks out.  The only thing I could think about was survival.  All worries except one left my mind.

I’m going to die.  I’m definitely going to die...

My ears pick up a minor rustling sound.  I gulped reflexively.  Slowly but surely, I beam up towards the leaves resting above me.

Big mistake.

Very large mistake.

My intuition was right.

The large entity leaps down from the thick branches above.  I fall to my back and wince in pain once again.  The potent odor of the beast pierces my nostrils.  Its devilish eyes glare at me.  I don’t have enough time to react, and the beast chomps down on my left shoulder blade, crushing the bone and cartilage.

My teeth clench and I scream internally.  The agony was unbearable.  I wanted to run, but I couldn’t escape.  My upper body was pinned down by its large figure.  I had no chance to flee, but maybe I could fight it.  I use my other functioning arm and try to punch it.  I deal a flurry of quick punches.  The more I punched, the weaker I felt.  Knuckles red from blood and constant force, I hurt my fist, but for the looming creature above me, it didn’t react at all.  Not even a flinch.  It stops for a few seconds and roars again.  

As a final resort, I muster my strength into my left leg and kick the beast off.

Surprised, the beast widened its hellish eyes and fell into the stream.  The once-clean water slowly dissipated into a disgusting purple mess.  Fish float to the surface, emanating death for their lifeless, scaly corpses.

Sizzle…

A pungent odor filled the air once again, but this time it was much stronger.  The beast began to slowly melt.  The four legs started to reveal meat and bone, and the agonizing roars of the dying creature echoed the forest.  Sparrows flew away.  Trees began to shed leaves more quickly than before.  

The serenity of the landscape was gone.  In an instant.  My eyes couldn’t believe the mess that I’ve made.  Looking in all directions of the carnage that this beast had created, I stood up, this time, grasping my shoulder in pain.  I could feel the limb loosen from its socket, yet it feels tense and tight.  Red and purple blood dripped onto my shoes, then onto the grass, now completely soaked and tainted with the destructive liquid.

Looking back up, the beast literally stood dead in its tracks, pupils dilated and jaw gaped open.  The pain was too much to handle.

Someone had to have heard that roar.

But before I could even think another thought, I found myself pinned on the ground again.

I could never see it coming.

It was mocking me.  Another one.  Another beast pinned me down, this time my entire body.  

But this one was different.  It had a humanoid face.  Disturbing and nightmare-inducing face.  A combination of grotesque facial parts mixed in with animalistic parts to create a sight engraved in the back of my mind for as long as I could breathe.  Which wouldn’t be that much longer, in fact.

I couldn’t believe it.

For real?!?!  Another one?!

It started laughing.  Maniacally.  Mocking my desperate attempt to survive.  It mauls my chest open.  The breath was forced out of me like deflating a ball.

My ability to hear left my ears.

Volume off.

I couldn’t breathe.  How could I breathe?  My face twitches and twists in utter pain and agony.  The sensation suddenly ceased.  I look up one last time and shut my eyes.  That was the last thing I remember.  It was painful.  That’s an understatement.  It was agonizing.  No words could describe the amount of terror I had.  The immense shaking of my body couldn’t even come close to represent the amount of terror in me.

I want to scream…

I want to as loud as I can...

But the beast had already ripped my lungs into pieces.  

Should I have cried for help?  Or was there no point?  Was no one around to help me?  I’ll never know.

All of this.

It happened so quickly.

So fast.

I really am weak.

I really can’t fight if my life depended on it.

What better way to confirm that then with what just happened?

To be honest, if this is what death feels like, then people were right.  It really is something to worry about.  But not now.  And hopefully not soon.  My story doesn’t just end here.  In fact, we haven’t really started yet.

Because…

I opened my eyes once again.  And it was calm and gentle.  No disturbances.  Just tranquility.