I awoke with a start, out of the warm embrace of my sleeping bag into the cold darkness of the night. The gentle fabric of my shirt sticking to the sweat dripping down by back.

A voice called out from the night, “Hey hon, you feeling alright? You were freaking out again.”

“Yea, I-I’m sorry, I’m okay. I didn’t wake you up, did I?” I responded sheepishly.

“Oh, please don’t worry about that, I hadn’t fallen asleep yet. Now are you doing alright? What’s been goin on?” The voice called back.

“It’s just that dream again, I can’t stop having it. It’s so… so vivid, it feels so real.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Thank you, but not right now, let’s just try and get some rest.”

“Alright, well I’m always here to talk if you need me.”

“Thank you, it really means the world. You too.”

“Goodnight hon, I hope you sleep well.”

“Goodnight, you too” I responded as I laid back down, into the warm confines of my sleeping bag.

The morning came without any more difficulties, the sun shining brightly upon the stretch of land we’d found ourselves on. A cool breeze rustled through the leaves of the trees we settled between for the night. As we emerged from our slumber, so do did the animals that called this landscape home.

Branches snapped as little critters scampered about, bird calls signaled that it was indeed morning, and the low hum of insects were an ever-present unpleasantry.

We prepared for the long day ahead of us, our equipment fitting snugly in the bags we had brought with us.

We ventured deeper into the environment, a dense canopy of leaves allowing only a select few sunbeams to reach our skin. But the cover was short lived, as the shrubbery began to thin out.

The view we found ourselves before was extravagant, a sea of green stretching out beneath our feet. The wind rushing through our hair, it both felt and looked as if we were on top of the world. The forest continued some hundred feet below us, but for just a little bit we were above it all. Our stretch of the woods had brought us to the very peak of a cliff side.

We sat ourselves down and decided to take in the view, a view I should’ve recognized much sooner. My heart pounded against my chest, as if it were trying to break through my rib cage.

“Get back!” I shouted as I attempted to pick myself up, off the ground I had previously felt so attached to.

“What? Why?” My partner responded, confused as to the sudden panic present in my voice.

“Just move!” I screamed, desperately willing them to listen.

“Ok ok, are you alright?” They responded as they too stood up from the seat.

“This is where… this is the same place… this is what I’ve seen in my dreams… the bad ones.”

“What does that mean? Is something going to happen? I won’t let anything hurt you, I promise.”

A warm hand took mine, it felt safe. I wanted to believe the words I was being fed, I wanted them to be true more than anything.

“I’m sorry, I should have told you, I should have recognized this sooner, I should have realized.” But as I said that, a sickening series of cracks rang throughout the open air.

The ground began to crumble away, the sediment wasn’t as solid as it had initially appeared, the sudden movements that had taken place moments prior seemed to be too much for it to handle, and it gave out.

“I’m sorry, I thought I had more time, I didn’t think it would happen yet. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

The sweat that coated my body drove a gap between our hands. The only thing keeping me connected to live, the only thing keeping me connected to them. But I was slipping, my feet dangling over the forest we had been marveling at.

I looked deep into their eyes. I wanted to say more, I wanted to tell them to keep going, that everything was going to be fine, but in my last moments, before finally letting go, all I could do was muster the softest smile I could, and say,

“I’m so sorry, I knew all along that this was how it would end.”