'It' Was My End

My throat burned every time I chocked for air. I could hear my heart beat in my ears; a tympani about to break from the thundering of mallets. I swiped and dodged branches as I made my way to the center of the bark covered creatures. I could not tell where I was. Everything looked the same, every leaf, every branch, every trunk, every tree. All I knew is that I was running, running hard, going deeper and deeper into the forest. I don't know how much longer I can go. The feet that once felt weightless, now became lead, every heartbeat cracked a rib and bruised the skin. "Is this fear? Is this what true terror feels like?" I came towards a light in the woods where the bright golden sun shone beyond the heavy canopy of leaves. I stopped for a second figuring I had time to pick a direction. There was a clearing just beyond the stump to my left. I heard the crackling of fallen leaves; 'it' was behind me. I lunged to the left, forgetting about the stump I fell heels over head over it. I could not bring myself to rise. I could not feel my body, couldn't control it.

This was my end.