A sweetly sick scent emanated from the shadow that lingered no more than 10 feet from me. It smelled of pine, and the bitter stench of sulfur burned my nostrils, as I stood staring. The moon cast a shadow from behind the creature obscuring their identity. I was not fearful, though something told me I should be, instead I was mesmerized by the mystery and the suspense of who stood before me. As I tried to call out, my voice failed me and all that escaped was a breathy whimper. “ who I am is not what matters love. Where you will go from here is far more precedent in this moment.” The voice was velvety, deep and radiated in my mind as if of my own thoughts. I contemplated how they knew to respond to a question I was unable to ask. drips from the icicles that hung at the mouth of the cave I had chosen to spend the night in kept tempo to my stunned silence. I had taken shelter from the blistering winter wind after wandering mindlessly through a forest I was unfamiliar with. It was nothing new for my mind to encourage me on such adventures in hopes to keep my thoughts clear in times of contemplation. Yet as I wandered deeper on this particular evening I became aware I no longer knew where I was.

This stranger had appeared from nowhere what felt like hours ago, and had not moved an inch only stood staring in at me. There was no sound of footsteps upon its approach though as soon as it had appeared it was followed by an even heavier chill that had consumed me from the inside out. In this moment I was no longer capable of movement. I managed to blink and as my eyes fluttered back open, the shadow was face-to-face with me again with no sound of its movement. my breath caught in my chest as I realize there was something and nothing standing before me all at once. It was like being teased and stalked by my own shadow this entire time. I blinked again and it was gone.

Impossibly and all at once, feeling came back to me, and my flight mode told me to run quicker than I’ve ever ran before, despite not knowing what exactly I was running from. I felt rocks digging into my skin and branches slice my arms as my feet fell heavily against the forest floor. I turned behind me to see if I was being pursued, and the shadow once again stood where it had always been. It did not seem to acknowledge me, but within my head I heard “ fear was the correct choice.” I don’t feel as if I’ll ever truly understand what or who I experienced that evening. I do know I no longer felt the pull to be alone with my thoughts for it had created this new fear of self solitude and the unknown shadows before me. My feet continued to drag me forward, encouraging me to run until I reached an unknown relief….

(Pt 2 available following a different prompt. Thanks for reading!)