And then I choke, stumbling and cursing as twigs and dirt stabs into my naked skin. I don’t scramble to my feet, instead I lay back. I stay there until it gets dark, and then until the forest goes silent. Transforming light to purple, from dust to black. The forest floor presses into my back, little insects crawling over my body. A singular spider crawls up my neck and into my ear, looking for shelter. It stays there for a little while before crawling out onto my face, each delicate leg a caress of an old lover. Until this very moment, I had been terrified of spiders. Maybe it was not the spider itself that scared me. Maybe it was the undetectable, inescapable and ever watching nature of them. Not even realising the creature scurrying up your leg - minus the slight tingle - until you catch a glance out of the corner of your eye. Once you catch one crawling up your leg, it’s never the end. As if your head decides to punish you for being as foolish. From then on, your body is on fire. Phantom spiders scuttle endlessly along each limb, every glance a new shadow. Except when you look, there’s nothing. Just your own paranoia. The spider scuttles back into my ear, as the other insects that had begun to make their home on my body go back into the forest. The naked branches above me slowed their sway until the entire forest is completely still. The winter chill stops, and a different cold feeling begins to steep into the air, like the cool exhale of rotten breath. I close my eyes, the shadows creeping back into my vision, behind trees and inside bushes. I feel a sensation on my bare shoulder, my eyes snapping open to nothing. I glance to the side, sitting upright for the first time in hours. The blood rushes in my ears, the noise bordering on whispers I know are just my imagination. As I glance to one side, something reaches for my other shoulder. I snap my head around to nothing. I begin to scramble to my feet, driven by something outside myself, breaking out into a run. I do not remember where I came from, or where I was going. I’m looking for shelter. Twigs snap beneath my bare feet, brambles and stones butchering the soles. I feel them break the skin, burying deep within my foot, hitting flesh and bones until it reaches the other side, hammered deeper with each stumble. They’re grabbing my arms, pulling me back and jeering as I run. I cannot escape them. The spider is still in my ear, hanging on for dear life. I duck under a branch, and as I emerge, a small shack appears in my eye line. Small, in a little opening of the forest. Crudely but lovingly built. A fence to ward off the forests predators shines in the glimmer of sun. I leap forward, almost falling before continuing my sprint. I’m there, in the opening, climbing the fence. I feel them claw at my ankles as I haul myself over. I am safe. I take one look behind me, at the shadows peering at me that disappear as I look closer. A low hum begins to emanate from the forest, almost too deep to hear, as if maybe it had always been playing but only now my ears could detect it. It’s close. But I’ve found shelter. I’m safe. I hobble towards the door, my feet nothing more than red blobs with dirt and twigs sticking out. It opens easily, and I know I am home. The spider crawls out of my ear and settles on a wooden table amongst a fresh fruit bowl. We’ve both found shelter. I lock the door with the key I can’t remember finding and settled down on the bed, resting my weary feet. Until I open my eyes, and I’m still on the forest floor, and the humming is deafening.