Living Life, Frame by Frame

Deadly Isolation

TW: None

Barren trees swayed gently in the cold march breeze, almost as if dancing. Not a sound was to be heard, not even from the birds, except for the soft ripples from the tranquil lake that was the center piece of the area.

I walked along the lakeside path, the cold breeze brushing against my face occasionally, my hair getting swept behind me as I walked along the dirt path. It was just me; no one else, nothing else, just me.

That was the way I preferred it anyway, especially if I needed to get out to clear my head like I did now. The soft sound of the water rippling and the barren trees swaying was always calming, and even more so considering there were no people.

Although some of the lake was obscured by the trees, I eventually came to a clearing where I could get a good view of the lake. One of the trees was on its side, almost as if floating over the lake, and I could still clearly see the tranquil grey the lake had become because of the clouds.

Deciding to take a rest, I patted the ground in front of this section of the lake, and luckily it wasn't too damp from the rain the night before. I carefully placed my long coat under me so I wouldn't get dirt on my clothes, and sat down, my knees bent slightly in front of me as I closed my eyes.

I've always liked sitting by bodies of water like this, it's always been something that has calmed me and erased any worries I may have had before. Something about the sound of the water, either rippling softly or the waves that were created by harsh winds, was particularly calming and serene.

I opened my eyes briefly to bring my knees closer to my chest, as I rested my chin on them, I proceeded to close my eyes again

How I wished life could be this peaceful more often.

After the past few days... weeks I've had, I think I at least deserved to rest this little bit.

My peace was disturbed however, when I heard rustling in the bushes, causing me to quickly open my eyes and scan my surroundings.

I hadn't heard anyone or anything along the path, so to say the sound shocked me was an understatement.

I chose to ignore it, but I was keeping my wits about me, and carefully listening to any other sound that may disturb the peace I had momentarily.

When I heard the sound again a few minutes later, I knew that I had two options.

One, check out the sound to see what it was to put my mind at rest.

Two, to keep walking and find another spot to sit by.

I decided to go with the first.

I got up as quickly and as quietly as I could, and slowly made my way over to the bush, that was still rustling slightly.

Once close enough, I managed to separate the branches to find...

Nothing.

Looking around, there was nowhere whatever or whoever was in there could have run to without being noticed by me.

I didn't want to stay here though, so I started walking a little further up the path, and I couldn't shake the feeling I was being followed. When I would check behind me though, there was nothing.

It seemed the air around me had started to get colder as well, even though it was nowhere near getting dark yet, as the clouds were the same grey they were earlier.

I found a similar spot I had earlier, and I waited for a-bit before I even thought of sitting down again. The sensation of being followed was gone, but the cold air still enveloped me.

I was hesitant at first, but I ended up sitting back down. As I let myself rest again, my mind slowly began to relax once more. I wanted to spend at least another hour out here, letting the natural sounds of nature calm and soothe me, before I had to go back to the hectic and stressful thing known as life.

Once again, I was disturbed by a sound. Instead of rustling though, I heard a sound that sounded something as if someone was in pain, and a lot of it at that.

I looked around again, and I saw no signs of anyone or anything near me or in the surrounding area, and the sound sounded pretty close.

Either I was going insane or there was something here that knew how to stay extremely well hidden.

I no longer felt safe though. I got up again, and started walking as quickly as I could through the rest of the forest. Luckily, it looped on itself, so if I kept going, I would end up where I started, and I could make my way home as fast as my legs would carry me.

The sound of pain got louder as I was walking, and eventually I ended up breaking into a run. As like before, every time I would check behind me, there would be nothing, but the sound and the cold air would persist.

I was near the end of the forest; I would make it I thought to myself.

That was wishful thinking though.

When I turned back around a final time after looking behind me, near the start of the forest, there was something looking back at me, ahead of me, making me stop.

There was someone... something ahead of me.

Deathly white, black voids where the eyes should be, seemingly drenched in water, just staring at me, as it had its mouth agape.

I stopped frozen in fear, like a deer caught in headlights, staring at this... thing

It was something out of nightmares, something that you would only see in the worst, possible dreams.

Yet it was here, it was ahead of me, and I didn't even know what it was.

It was silent, until it let out a sound, the same ones of pain I had been hearing.

I closed my eyes and covered my ears, hoping for this to be a dream that I would wake up from, and hoped that I would stop hearing the sound.

It didn't stop though. Neither did I 'wake up' from a dream I hoped I was in.

When I opened my eyes, it appeared closer, now standing right in front of me, as it continued to stare and make that god awful noise.

I didn't move. I couldn't move.

I didn't know why I couldn't, I would try putting one leg in front of the other, but to no avail.

I stood, as if frozen in time, as more... things started to appear behind the one that was in front of me, each making sounds that was worse than the first.

I heard rustling again, and saw that some of them were starting to crawl out of the bushes.

Suddenly, everything went quiet, no sound to be heard. Not the trees, the water, not the awful sounds coming from those things. Not even rustling of the bushes.

However, as all sound stopped, I could no longer see.

I could no longer see, or hear.

Everything was black.

Everything was silent.