Brianna
The Fear of Death
By Brianna
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” - Mark Twain
They're coming for me. I can feel it. I cannot see them yet, but their smell carries. I can even taste them. They smell like a thousand burning corpses that have been baking in the sun for a week. If you’ve never smelled death ,consider yourself lucky, it isn't pleasant.
I have absolutely no idea how I got here. Come to think of it, it looks like a hospital, with it's unending corridors and flickering florescent lights.
Lights. The last thing I remember was a light, coming towards me, following, no chasing me and hitting me with full force. I woke in one of the rooms and I ran.
I cannot run anymore, it hurts to breathe. My lungs feel like they are going to cave in at any moment. My back touches the cool white tile of the grimy wall. I need rest for a minute, then I can search for the exit. I told myself to be strong.
A snarl draws me out of my moment of rest. It's them, those terrible things that smell like burning corpses. They spotted me. I have to keep moving. I have to keep moving, but it's so hard. I'm exhausted and the floor is slippery. My legs are beginning to feel like I'm wearing cement shoes. Like in those nightmares where you are being chased but you just can't seem to move. It's like that. But this is real.
As I turn a corner, I see it. The exit! I'm almost free. A beautiful looking girl with flowing blonde hair and blue eyes is on the other side is beckoning.
“Hurry” her angelic voice carries down the hallway. “If you make it through the door they won't be able to hurt you.”
Those horrible things that smell like rotten, cooked bodies look like my parents. My mom, dad, sister...what happened to them? It's their faces, but all expressions of compassion and love are gone, it has been replaced by a bloodthirsty look.
The floor becomes even slicker and the ground starts to shake, but the door is so close now, I’m almost there. My hand closes around the handle as a hand closes around my leg. I hear the most high pitched and stomach churning scream, and I realize it’s me. I am dragged down by the monsters.
Then it all disappears in a flash over surreal light, the weight of the monsters, the smell of burning corpses and the hard floor below me. An eerie calmness over takes me as it all fades to black
There's that light again. I forced my heavy eyes open. My family and the other monsters are still above me, but their faces are no long grotesque. They look the same as I remember! My mother and my sister's eyes are red and puffy.
“Mom” my voice is dry and uncharacteristically soft. I feel like I have been hit by a bus. “what's happening?”
My mother sniffles and pulls me into a hug. “We were in a car crash” she explained as she pulled away. “We almost lost you. The doctors didn’t think they could bring you back”
All I could think about was that strangely beautiful blonde girl and the bright light coming through the door.