Bestowing Evil

This place...this place takes me away. Takes me away from the horrendous sounds of the worthless town I was brought up in. Feeling the icy wind wrap itself around my tired body as it dances around the tall whistling pines. The inky black crows dart in and out of the trees like specters, singing their songs of crepuscular as the small delicate pine siskins with their yellowish-green bodies dance between the yaupon on the forest floor.

Nothing but nature surrounds me, no human being in sight. The golden-white sun starts to drift down into the horizon behind the trees, the white smoke drifts up into the quickly darkening sky. Golden embers dance upwards quickly becoming the twinkling stars and constellations that my grandfather has taught me over the years. Orion appears as Leo roars itself into existence, Ursa major rises out of the darkens with Ursa minor accompanying it like the little bear cub it is, suddenly the stars of the earth rise from their dormancy in the nutrient-rich ground. Dancing with one another like long-lost lovers.

All the diurnal beasts crawl, fly and slither back into their warm dens letting the nocturnal ones out and dance and sing their mystical celebrations of the night in the silvery light of the moon. Joyous howls of coyotes and red wolves echo into the sleeping trees, somber hoots, crackling screeches of the barred owls and eastern screechers dances with the cold midnight air. Suddenly I could hear the ancient drums of my ancestors beating to the rhythm of the forest, the primal songs of Niu Heimar and Valravn rise from the ground as if they woke from a deep sleep. I rise from my position and let the beat of the primal songs pull me in the directions they want me to go. I dance around the flames of my fire, letting them become my dance partner. Their bright orange and golden arms embrace me, closing my eyes and letting the songs of my spirit sing as loud as they could. The ancient specters and fairies of the woods come and join in the dance of the moon, dirt kicking up and leaves rise into the air. Freedom engulf me as the tears and sweat fall from my body, a thick fog rolls in. The sounds of the forest become muffled, I hear nothing but the wind. Peace embraces me as the fire goes to sleep.

I dream of a singular pear tree, with hues of vibrant greens and blushing reds. The dew drips down the fruit as sunshine sparkles through its reflections. The wind whistles through its leaves, releasing its song. Its trunk holds a hole, nestled in it was a fawn. His nose was pink as a pansy. His soft delicate fur white as snow, all curled up asleep. Suddenly, he awakens. His eyes black as coal, the fruit is now being eaten by flies. Dropping, all of them dropping like lead. The wind picks up as an ungodly scream rises out from the fawn. Fear grips my throat. I awake.

Dark silence consumes my senses. My heart suddenly quickens its pace as my skin is drenched in cold sweat. The atmosphere quickly changes, from peace to pure dread. I grip the cold soil as I hear a loud distorted siren echoes throughout the woods.

I thought I was in a safe place, I thought….no I am not safe. I couldn’t make anything out in the forest as shadows danced amongst the tall pines, the siren getting louder and louder with my vision getting more distorted. I quickly get up, stumbling under my feet and run. I didn’t know which way to go as shadowy figures get ever closer to me from all around me. Color is sapped away from the lush greenery, turning black and white like an old horror film. The siren drowning out my own thoughts, distorted voices, screams of fear and agony scrape at the walls of my ears.

Blood starts dripping out from every orifice of my body, I kept running in pain and fear of being captured by whatever was chasing me. Was there something chasing me? I look back and see a cloaked figure floating wearing a deer skull chasing me. I picked up my pace and see an abandon saw mill a few meters away. Its walls covered in vines, with a large, crooked pear tree growing in the middle. I run in and hid in one of the vine filled rooms closing the door behind me. I see a pile of rotting logs covered in moss and jumped behind them, praying that the creature didn’t see me run in. The siren getting louder and louder as I curl up and shut my eyes, my heart beating faster as the feeling of dread washes over me.

The sound starts to fade away into the distance, and my body soon begins to relax. Trusting that the creature left the area, I slowly peek outside the room, seeing nothing but the vines sway in the creaky wooden hallway from the wind. I tiptoed out, making sure I don’t make a sound and closed the wooden door behind me; but the dread came back. I slowly turned around and there he was, lunging at me. Everything turned black, I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t see, smell but I could hear the siren screaming louder and louder. I was drowning in the sound, then a bright light enveloped my eyes, and I was suddenly in my bed with the sheets wrapped around my face. I ripped them off so I could breathe and see fully. I see a pear tree.