Breather

All by myself, I wandered in the woods

the hissing of snakes made me feel I'm no longer on my own.

Walking slowly in a dark and long alley

I am clueless of what awaits me at the end of the road.

Then there was a beautiful light, shining so bright

I'm almost blinded to see what's on the other side.

I swim a river, although I do not know how to, and managed to get to the other side

without getting drowned.

Jumping tirelessly from cloud to cloud, my feet feeling its soft and cotton-like texture

though it's just suspended droplets of water, I did not fall to the ground.

Then suddenly everything went black...and red..and black.

Running as fast as a cheetah,

I tried to elude---

shadows chasing me;

faceless creatures going after me;

silhouettes grabbing every part of me

until I become their capture- restless, weak, powerless.

Blurred image of a man appeared out of nowhere

then he grabbed my head and buried his sharp fingernails in my scalp.

He kept on whipping me and I can feel the gushing of my blood.

I cried in pain. No voice came out from my mouth, though.

Then I suddenly realized I'm free and started to run for my dear life.

But I can hear his loud and deep laughter

getting closer and closer.

I am still confused with what is happening.

I keep on running and running

until my supply of air becomes scarce.

Dead end.

Face-to-face

me versus him.

I am already tired;

ready to give up;

deal with my fate.

My fate that now rests on this blurred image.

As he lift his hand for a final blow

I shut my eyes tightly hoping that when I open them again

I'll see rainbow, waterfalls, butterflies, and flowers.

But I can feel his hands squeezing my neck tighter and tighter,

strangling me to death.

I struggle to get past him,

thinking of hundred ways to get his hands off me so I can breathe normally.

But he's too powerful. I accepted my fate. I am doomed. This is my end.

Everything remains black and dark.

My eyes are still shut hoping by doing so, I'll be numb

but I can still feel every pain and every struggle to live.

And I continue gasping for air...I'm running out of air.

Oh, God. Please let me live longer.

I made up my mind.

If this will be my end, might as well see the face of my unidentified perpetrator up close.

Regardless of what or who he looks like, I want to know his face.

I want to remember every detail.

And so I opened my eyes...

to the sound of voices gathered around me and waking me up.

And I started to breathe normal again.