"Not the same dream again! God help me, I hate this place!"
The ground around me looked creepy, cracked and grass-less. There were things crawling around on the ground that I couldn't see. Yet, I knew they existed from past experience. I was happy, for the moment, not to see them. What I could see was the tops of what appeared to be trees so I knew that woods surrounded me. They appeared to be flat topped trees. Flat topped trees were the worst kind.
Why? Because I knew there were monsters waiting in those woods. Flat topped trees with oddly shaped branches always hid monsters in this domain. They chased me every time I found myself here, in this wasteland. I'd been here so many times now I was rarely surprised when I appeared and saw flat topped trees. I already knew the first thing that was going to happen.
Now I was dumped. The question remained, where had I been dumped this time?
I looked to my left. "Where am I tonight in this wasteland?" I asked myself.
I had come to the conclusion, early in life, that I had been born as a joke. God and Satin had grown tired of playing chess with other peoples lives and were concentrating on just mine now. Yes, I had been created for the amusement of God and Satin. I firmly believed this. They had created this nightmare for amusement and they sent me here often just for laughs. I assumed they made bets between them about such things as which monster would be the first to stab me, catch me or even rape me? To this day I was certain I was right. I'd never been proven wrong thus far.
I glanced to my right hoping to see some light. The shadows around me were so thick that it was impossible for me to see my surroundings. This was normal. I always expected it to happen. What fun would it be to let me in on the joke? What I didn't see most certainly would hurt me. It always did.
I looked downward, and found it to be the only place where I could really see anything. I kicked at the dirt around me. That might get the dream started. I wanted nothing more then to get it going so I could leave. One day I was sure to die here. One day this dark place would be home. Today, wasn't going to be that day. Today, I wasn't going to die.
I kicked the dirt around some more nothing happened which was no surprise. I might as well give up. I was just about to decide this when I felt my foot bump against something hard. I couldn't see it, of course, because it was too dark and shadowy. I bent down slowly and carefully to exam what I'd found. One always had to be careful in this world. Things that you didn't think could bite did bite.
"It's a graveyard," I whispered, fully amazed. It was something one would expect to find in such a dismal place, but it was a place I'd never been to in the past. So, why was I here now?
"Well, at least it's new," I finally mumbled softly. I'd do anything to reassure myself that it wasn't all bad and I'd be fine. I just had to get the dream over with and fast.
"So why am I here?" I asked as my gaze turned skyward. Always I wanted to know more than I was allowed to know. Questions asked aloud always brought results. This once again reinforced my belief that this was a game between good and evil.
In answer to my question, the shadows surrounding the area began to vanish. A very old cemetery came into view. Crumbling stones and large decaying mausoleums, constructed of marble surrounded me. The ground, in these areas, had very little greenery. Long broken line of cracked ground seemed to form a path one could follow if they so desired. This crack weaved around the stones going no where in reality. It was, however, the focal point of the entire community of stones. As far as I could see, this crack had no ending.
In other places stringy grass covered the ground around some of the plots. Gaping holes of rubble, clothing and bones suggested that some dead souls had clawed their way out of their graves. Bits and pieces of these inhabitants were scared across the grass-less dirt.
In the distance I saw a light. It was moving slowly, creeping, like someone walking. The first light turned left and it was then that I saw more lights following it. There were five of them. I didn't move. The lights didn't appear to be focusing on me. It appeared, I was safe just to watch. As the lights grew nearer, I saw people. These people were carrying Halloween bags and dressed up in weird costumes.
The lights were pumpkins lit from the inside with bugs. They were following the long crack I'd just studied in the dirt and werewolves picking up the remains of those long dead from around them. I saw them filling their bags with clothing, pottery, false teeth and jewelry. Anything not stuck in the ground, unmovable, they were collecting.
Were they trick-or-treating?
The costumes varied in style. Some were half undressed and their ribcage was visible. Others had no pants on and the bones of their legs and hips were exposed. Some had on collars, but there was no master holding the collar to lead them. I watched them circle around the graveyard walking funny, until they disappeared into the distance again. I finally came to the conclusion that they were zombies.
I returned my gaze to the moon. It hung low tonight. It was, of course, a full moon. What else could I expect to find in this hellish land but fright? The full moon suggested that wolfs would be wondering around tonight, more then likely they would be the type that changed into werewolves. I had no plans of meeting any of them. Still I didn't know exactly what the night had planned for me. I glanced in the direction I'd last seen the zombies. Fright one had already taken place; what lay in store with fright two?
A tiny smile crept across my face; Perhaps this time it'd be different. I already knew once I entered this dreamland, I had no chance of escape. The dream had to release me and it would only do that if I found or did what I was expected to do. I shivered and looked around some more. I was hoping against hope that I'd find an escape route. There had to be a trick. I just didn't know the trick.
This was a place I'd first visited as a child. Only recently, at forty-three, some 27 years later, had this same horror called me back. I didn't know or really care why. All I wanted was to leave and never return. Let The Devil and God find another person to play games with. I'd had more then enough.
I moved towards the center of the graveyard, slowly. I, of course, didn't have any light. So every step I took could be my last. I listened as I heard bones break and gravel crunch under the weight of my feet. I smiled, why would I have a flashlight? I kept walking, slowly. Inch by inch I neared the stone in the center of the lot. Suddenly my feet felt cold. I glanced downward.
I was shoeless. I held back a giggle. Why would I have on shoes? Why wouldn't I want to walk, barefoot on this moldy, diseased ground which had assorted decaying bodies and monsters decomposing upon it? It was cold, naturally. It was muddy, of course. How else could they catch me unless I was at a disadvantage?
In the center of the graveyard I saw a huge headstone. I continued creeping towards it while sweeping the area around me with my eyes every few seconds. I hoped to reach the stone before the monsters found me. It had to be my destination.
"This has to be the place," I shivered. Damn, I was cold. Why else would I be able to walk to it and not be pursued. Of course, cause I didn't have any shoes on. I wrinkled my toes from the frost and tried to warm up by blowing into my hands a few times and rubbing my feet. Stupid as that seemed, only because now if I'd stepped into anything that'd kill me I'd just gave it a bigger advantage. But I was too cold not to try to warm up my feet. So, I deducted that it was a requirement. Like all the bad things that happened in this dreamland.
The sooner I encountered the ghoul, the sooner I could be released from the badlands I rationalized. I took a few more steps lifted my head high in the night sky and screamed. I'd just about reached my limit of reminding myself what not to do and what to do every few seconds.
"Come on bad guys! Let's get this over with!"
No sooner had I finished screaming then a cold breeze began to blow. Following that the sound of faint buzzing greeted my ears. I swallowed hard. I knew this wasn't going to be good.
"Dust fairies!" I screamed and tried to run. I didn't get very far before they surrounded me.
The ground all around me was alive with movement. The smell of decay and dying things greeted my nose offensively. Winged creatures flattened themselves around me and beckoned me to upchuck. Already I could feel what had been in my stomach traveling up the back of my throat. They wanted me to throw-up, and they were trying to force it from me. In this place there was little food for them to eat, so whenever they had the opportunity to be fed they never missed it. They lived on vomit.
I brushed the dust fairies away and placed my left foot on the stone which surrounded the main section of the headstone. One never stood barefoot on the ground when being attacked by dust fairies, one got onto something solid. Once off the ground you became invisible. They couldn't find you. Now I knew why my shoes had vanished.
Standing on the ground for too long was a big mistake, even with shoes on. I'd once seen a monster die from throwing-up, because he had no place to run to escape the ground. It had been gross to see bits of his stomach tumble out of his mouth and the dust fairies eat it up.
I knew one of their favorite hangouts was graveyards. I wasn't sure which type of graveyard they were attracted too, and thus far I had never been placed in one to find out. The only ones I'd seen briefly were small and dark. They were occupied by the dead only. This one was unique because it seemed to be alive with activity.
Once I was standing on the stone, I felt safe and solid. That should have been my first clue. Nothing in this hellish place was safe or solid. It was in dreamland where anything could happen and it most often did. Perhaps I was being overconfident. One never got confident in a doctor's office when they knew they were being examined for cancer. So why was I so confident now? Wasn't this dream split open with cancer?
As I stood, alone, on the stone, I searched for something to hang onto. That's when I felt something, unexpected. What was that? I glanced upwards at the stone itself.
"Whose stone is this? Could that be important?"
I felt an inscription, but it was covered in so much grim, moss and decay that it was impossible to read. I rolled my eyes, what had I been thinking. Easy wasn't how anything worked in this place. Why did I keep forgetting that?
