A Peaceful night sleep....

He crouched low in the dark mist, hoping not to be seen. All was quiet, a lone wolf howled out in the distance sending a shiver down his spine. Then the clouds began to break. The full moon appeared and shone brightly, casting it’s peaceful slivery glow across the swamplands. He got up feeling a little more relaxed. He started to walk again, confidence filled him, as he knew he was going to make it back to the base…alive

Whoosh!!! A chilly, gusty wind whipped up from nowhere. He shielded his eyes from the coming onslaught. Dirt, leaves and twigs seemed like mini-daggers in the gale like winds. He stumbled back a few steps, then as quickly as it came it vanished, but so had the moon. The mist seemed to intensify, confusing anyone trying to make progress in leaving the swamp. It was as still as a grave yard, nothing moved. Fear sprung to life again, it was everywhere. A new thought gripped him, “he might just not make it out alive”. Panic sized him, he broke through the under-brush as fast as he dared. He didn’t want to waste his energy on something that he had not yet encountered. He ran on and on, then something caught him by the leg, he collapsed and fell on top of something. For a moment he could not quite make out what he was sitting in. He was afraid to look, it felt moist and spongy, whatever it was it was rancid. When reality sank in, he shot to his feet. He was standing over a malodorous, rotten carcass. The worst feeling of all was that he knew that he had fallen into a trap, and now, whatever had made it would hunt him down without a second thought.

He tried to walk! Pain like no other shot through his leg, he glanced down at his leg. He saw a jagged piece of wood was imbedded in his calf… he collapsed.

He did not know how long he had laid there but when he came to his senses he knew he had to escape. So he propped himself up against a tree, grasped the object with both hands, closed his eyes and clenched his teeth and with a yell removed it. Now he started to run, but he didn’t have a chance, not with the wound he had. He was caked in the goo that by now had started to dry on him and it reeked too bad to even describe. Also with a steady trickle of blood coming from his open wound, he was a walking meal. By now the heat had increase, it was as hot as hell. Sweat dripped off his forehead and mingled with his cuts making them burn and sting. Whether it was day or night he could not tell; he lost track of all time. Insects buzzed and crawled around him. At first he tried to shake them off, but it was to no avail. It was only draining him of his already low energy, so he let them be.

He stopped suddenly. The air had changed, it was thick, heavy and putrid. It was so dense he could almost taste it. He stood there, his time was nearly at it’s end. The swamp floor moved suddenly under his feet.

Once!

Twice!

Then three times. With each vibration getting stronger and stronger. A chill ran through his entire body, his hackles stood on end, fear gripped him once more. He tore off, forgetting about his leg, the fatigue. All he thought about was fear. Roots and vines tried to grab and entangle him, he struggled desperately to keep himself free. He ran deeper and deeper through the mist and fog. Then something caught his eye. He stopped dead, looked, shook his head and looked again. It was a light! Oh yes a light. He then began to head towards the light, he ran with all his might. But no matter how long he ran for the light he never seemed to get any closer. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath. He slumped against the trunk of a Juniper tree gasping and reeling. At last he calmed down and regained his breath, he tried to get up and keep moving, he had to get up. But his muscles cried out in pain when he tried to move, he needed rest desperately.

Slowly his eyes began to close, he forced them open. He grabbed at his open, infested wound. He let out a yell as he squeezed his leg. He needed the pain to keep him awake. But even that wasn’t enough, the pain, the exhaustion, the fear. He passed out!

He awoke with a start, the atmosphere had turn foul once again. He was suffocating in the stagnant air, he knew he had to leave the area at once. He pulled himself up and stumbled out of the enclosure he was in. By now it was dark again, making navigation extremely difficult. He limped blindly in the hazy fog, then from the darkness he saw a shadow a of man. He cried out to the shadow but no sound came from his voice, he yelled again and again but nothing came out. The shadow passed on and disappeared in the night’s mist. The deep thudding grew steadily louder and louder, crashing sounds came from the bushes behind him. He broke out into a run but the faster he tried to go, the slower he seemed to get. He tried to get away but he could not. Very soon he felt the horrible, pungent smell of rotten flesh against the back of his neck, making his eyes water.

The breath was warm and thick, he collapsed again. He put his hand to his chest as he fought desperately to breathe. He felt something hard inside his grimy shirt, he put his hand in and pulled out something he never thought he had. A pistol.

He must have forgotten all about it. He made sure it was loaded, as he expected he only had one shell left. He wanted to make sure the shot counted., he waited till the beast was directly in front of him and then cocked it. He spun around! Fire leapt from the nozzle, he heard a horrific scream, the bullet had hit its mark, but before he had a chance to react something came out of nowhere knocking the gun from his hands and sending him flying twenty feet into the air. He backed as far as he could go, his back was against a tree. It was finished. He could see a pair of pale green eyes starring at him from the mist, coming closer and closer. He could see something flying towards him, he closed his eyes and put his hands over his face waiting for impact. It hit. It was not was he was expecting. It was soft and fluffy, he opened his eyes and looked at was sitting in his lap… it was a pillow. He bolted up right.

Thwack!

Another pillow hit him in the face “Joe c’mon Joe wake up, it’s just a dream, c’mon Joe” he blinked slowly a couple of times then gasped at his leg, it was alright. “ Joe why did you have to get us all up at six in the morning on a Sunday”

Thwack!

Another pillow hit him from the behind “ Ya Joe, lay off ‘dem horror films will ya’ maybe you should change to some x-rated ones. At least you won’t have to invite us into those dreams.” “Ok ok guys I’m sorry, I’m sorry” Joe said as he laid back down

“Whoa, hey, hey, at least give us back our pillows please.” He got up and threw his older brothers their pillows then laid down again. He wiped his brow which was still damp, let out a sigh, and slowly closed his eyes.

THE END