to escape to. “I can help you!” I shouted to her, stepping out from behind the ashen shrub outstretching my hand.
She looked my way and took a few steps toward me before the ground began to shake, knocking her backwards. The earth beneath our feet split open. Pops of hot steam shot up into the air and a glowing hot, red light from an impending lava explosion knocked me backwards.
The girl ran away from me, deeper into the castle. There was no possible way I could get anywhere near her, let alone save her.
This was the work of a dark walker. They had created such a consequential terror that the young girl’s mind was completely engulfed in fear. There was nothing for her to do but run.
I turned and moved as fast as I could toward the gate, looking over my shoulder for the young girl, to no avail. The moat had transformed from a lily pad covered swamp to a dirty oil slick, bubbling with thick, black, tarry liquid.
As I ran across the drawbridge, chilling creatures emerged from the moat. They looked like alien human beings made of dripping, molten tar and screamed in what sounded like utter desperation as they reached out for me. I dodged their grip and ran as fast as I could in the pouring rain away from the castle.
I scrambled up a steep, nearby hill and turned around again to look for the girl. I could barely make out her silhouette as she ran into the woods, but I could easily hear her screams.
An irascible creature thundered out from behind the castle and chased the girl with fury. It was nearly as tall as the castle walls, its skin a dirty greenish-brown. Every step it took vibrated the earth underneath me. Its roars echoed through the forest as it thundered into the immense pine trees.
I wanted so desperately to leave this walk but I was trapped by my fear and unable to focus. Fear is a powerful emotion. When you are overcome by it on a walk, it can be devastating.
I tried to get up, to move myself in any way that my body would let me. But I couldn’t leave and I couldn’t create anything to help the girl or myself. I could only stand frozen with fear.
The air began to feel electrically charged and every hair on my body stood on end. A low buzz filled the air and vibrated my ears. In a monstrous bolt of blinding blue light and a reverberating roar of a thunderous, sci-fi explosion, the entire castle disappeared and was replaced by a dark, grassy void. The rain, thunder, lightning and wind all stopped in the blink of an eye. Only deafening silence and the darkness of a forest existed now.
Moonbeams menacingly managed to find their way to the ground through the tree branches. They were no longer delicate and mystical. They were now cold, heavy and daunting.
I scrambled to my feet and ran until I felt safe enough to stop. Terrified and out of breath, I dropped to the ground. I was drenched, cold, and scared. I didn’t see the young girl anywhere.
If I had been overtaken by my own fear, then she surely had as well. She was younger and therefore less experienced than I am. Thinking of what could happen to her if she was lost broke my heart.
I wanted to stay and find her and keep her safe. But a part of me, the rational part that my father implanted in my subconscious, was telling me that keeping myself safe was top priority. The girl may not even have been real. I could have imagined her. I could have just been experiencing a night terror.
My emotional side argued back. It wanted to find her, to launch a crusade. It struggled with the idea of abandonment. It told me I was the only one who had any hope of helping her.
I sat on the hill clinging to a tree, hoping and praying for what seemed like an eternity, that the girl would just reappear from the forest. My father’s voice echoed over and over again in my mind. Keep yourself safe—believe nothing is real. Always come home.
It eventually became clear that she wasn’t coming out. Hearing his voice in my head over and over again, I somehow managed to convince myself to believe him. I was finally able to make the decision to leave the walk.