Nightmares

I had one last night and... I think it was brought on by him.

But I don't know... I'll just describe it for you.

I was running through this dark forest. Dark meaning everything about the trees and the ground were black. I couldn't tell if it was day or not because the trees seemed to sap out every bit of light from the world around me.

I ran and I ran and I wondered why I wasn't moving that fast and I looked down to see my stubby, ten year old legs running underneath of me and I realized I was indeed ten years old. I had my Squirtle shirt I always wore and my stupid lizard earing and necklace.

I didn't want to stop though. Something was following me. No, not just one thing... A lot of things were. I could hear their feet padding against the ground. Their sides rubbing on the trees. Their bodies moving through the canopy above me. It was a cacophony of rustling and creaking and scraping.

It was too much for me and my head began to pound and my legs slowed down till I nearly came to a stop. I then felt arms wrap around me and lift me up and all the noise stopped and it was dead quiet. I looked up to see it was my mother. She smiled at him and stroked my hair gently.

"Hylo, darling, what are you doing in the forest? We were so worried about you..." she said softly to me.

Hearing her voice again is probably the most beautiful thing I've ever heard. It brought me to tears, and I sobbed into her shoulder.

She stroked my hair and told me: "Hylo... you need to come home. You've wandered off to far, darling..."

I looked up at her and to my horror she had no face. Her arms began to elongate and wrap around me tighter and tighter so I couldn't move.

"Your light will be mine, little flower." her voice changed and warped. It was hers but it also wasn't hers and it was terrifying to hear. "I will devour you, little lily. You will never glow ever again."

I struggled and tried to push her away but I couldn't and I began to sob again.

Then something odd happened... Her blank face began to glow and shine. And as it did her arms began to almost melt away. The things behind me in the forest began to hiss and howl as the light touched them.

My mother's voice returned and she said to me, "Hylo... do you remember what I told you to say when you are scared? I told you to name off the flowers in our garden... do you remember them all? Please tell me, Hylo, tell me their names."

So I did I named off all of them. I have no idea how I remembered them, but I did.

Lilac, Tiger Lily, Mums, Dahlia, Poppy, Rose, Morning Glory, Magnolia, Hydrangea, Hylocereus.

At the last word the light brightened even more and turned everything to white, washing away every bit of the dark.

I heard my mother say: "Hylo, its time to wake up darling. Its time to count the blossoms."

And with that I woke up.