I walked down the same street. The same street I had lived on my entire life. The street where my foot had met pavement so often, that I'm sure somewhere the sidewalk gods had dedicated a plaque in my honor.

I didn't know why I was walking that day. The sky was that generic bright California blue and the sun shined high above, casting beautiful patterns through the leaves that fluttered in the cool breeze. The road outside of the neighborhood stood silent, the only sound the trees and the buzz of the bees. It was a nice summer day. The sort of summer day you take for granted. One that you never really realize just how nice it is till you truly look at it. And I was.

But as I enjoyed that magnificent day, the sunlight began to fade. The wind grew cold. The bees stopped buzzing. What little light was left, began to change. Darken. Then, the world in all its once former glory, stood silent. Dark scarlet red. And silent.

My breath was hot and fast, my stance tense. The adrenaline pumped through me. I wasn't able to move. I couldn't even blink. My mind screamed out in panic. It struggled against it, frenzied like a rabid animal. But it was a loosing battle.

All at once, my vision tunneled, focusing ahead of me on the sidewalk. I could no longer feel my body. My limbs. My head. My mind. All I was, was what I saw. The edges of my vision grew dark, veins pulsing at the edges. I couldn't feel them. Only see them. As though I were looking out from inside my own eye.

Then I saw it. At first it had only been a flicker at the edge of my vision. But now it thrashed. Writhing in the darkness. Twisting. Forming. I couldn't turn. Couldn't see what it was. I had to wait.

Cautiously, it began to venture, a long tendril feeling its way along the sidewalk. It acted as though it were a blind man's cane, feeling out for solid ground. As quickly as it had appeared, it vanished back into the brush, rustling leaves the only trace that it had ever existed.

Then the ground shook. I couldn't feel it. I simply saw it. The world churned, but I was still. Through the turmoil, something slid out of the brush, with unnatural grace. At first glance the towering figure looked like a man. But it wasn't. It was not a man by any stretch of the word. It had no face. All it had was teeth. Teeth that covered half it's head, long and skinny, their sharpened tips glimmering in the blood red light.

The air boiled around the thing, sparks of white lightning tinted red flashing through the air as it advanced toward me, it's gait casual and deadly. It's teeth parted as it advanced, revealing a gullet of impenetrable darkness. It screamed. It was a sound of death, of destruction. It rippled through the air toward me, ripping into my very soul.

It was in front of me now, it's entire body now visible in it's sick beauty. It was made entirely of plants. Vines. Roses. Saplings. All entwined and writhing like snakes, each one moving separately, all their movements combining to make it slid along the concrete. It screeched again, it's clawed fingers swinging idly at its side, it's head turned to the side like a curious dog.

Abruptly, I could move again. Could feel again. Could think again. I nearly collapsed in shock. I turned to run, every part of me screaming out in pure, undeniable fear. As I sprinted I looked back at the, thing. It was there for one brief second. Then it leapt.

I couldn't dodge. Couldn't avoid it. One moment it was there. The next it was on me. It flipped me on my back, bringing me to stare into two glowing blood red roses. It's teeth set in a grin it started dragging me toward it, one hand wrapped around my ankle. I could feel its claws dug into my skin. They burned.

The air around it glowed now, the lightning snapping in out of existence so quickly that I could barely spot individual strands. I fought back. I struggled. Panic welled up in my throat, in my brain, sending shocked spasms throughout my entire body. My arms flailed. My legs kick. Fear engulfed me as my heart flew off its hinges.

I couldn't escape. The beast held fast. My head lolled against the sidewalk, looking away from the horror now engulfing me. It was eating me. I couldn't feel the pain. I just felt parts of myself turn warm then slowly disappear into the pleasant darkness. It scared me. It terrified me done to my bone. To my soul. I was going to die. And I wasn't even going to feel it.

I woke in a cold sweet. I didn't shoot up like you see in the movies. I laid very still in my bed, my eyes wide, my body petrified in fear, unable to move in the irrational fear that the beast would return. Come out of my dreams and devour me once more.

I laid there a long time in that bed. That bed nestled in my home, right next to that street that I had walked, oh so many times.

It passed as all nightmares do. Life went on. But that feeling of fear. That feeling of absolute terror that many of us will only really achieve while we sleep. I remember it. I remember it so that if I ever come face to face with it again, in dream or reality, I will be prepared.

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Author guidance for This story

This is just a short piece I did based off of a nightmare that I had a few years back that scared the hell out of me. Enjoy.

updated Jul 12 by Zamic