Random One-Shots

The Unknown Beast

"They say that there is a feral beast that lives up in the mountains. It may grant you that which you seek. But for a price."

That is what my grandmother said before I embarked on a journey to find the beast. She had warned me as a child to ever go into the mountains, for this price was too steep, but I didn't want to feel cowardly anymore. I wasn't a child at all.

The journey began at the foot of this mysterious land formation. The peak was covered with a thin sheet of fog, and the remainder was painted with branching streams, large boulders, and trees as far as the eye could see. Rummaging through my bag, I took out a map of the trails that lead up this mountain, but all were dead ends, as the makers knew of the supposed beast that stalked the land. I made my way towards the longest of the paths, the title only being a question mark. This path is the largest and most mysterious of them all. They say the beast's den is in the area, and those who were working on the path abandoned it for that reason. Climb at your own risk.

The hike on this path was easy at first, the twigs and leaves that have fallen off of the trees snapping and crackling under my feet. I stopped my trek as I saw something out of the corner of my eye, almost serpent-like. Looking around, the trees above swayed with the wind that had picked up, tossing and turning the fallen leaves with it. As I stood there for minutes on end, the unknown entity that appeared in the corner of my eye seemed to have disappeared, and I continued on my way.

As the path wound up the mountain, it got increasingly difficult to climb, and increasingly easier for fatigue to creep up on my body and take over. It had been a few hours since the beginning of the hike to find this beast, and some time to rest was in order. I stopped in my path and looked around for any areas to sit and enjoy the fresh air. The most suitable area was a small cave not so far away, so the journey trailed off the given path, and into the rocky dome. Climbing into the shelter, I put my bag onto the ground, sitting down next to it. Pulling out a small container, I opened it to reveal a small snack, that of trail mix and berries. Consuming only a quarter of what was packed, the container was placed back into the bag, and I layed down, closing my eyes.

A glow had emitted from my body as I floated in an endless void of darkness. Attempting to yell out for help, the cry echoed, but nothing replied. Moments after, a pair of glowing crimson eyes appeared, and a voice was heard, its accent that of a hiss, a hiss that could chill someone to the core.

"And who hasss come to visssit me? Have you come for the fabled wish everyone dessiress, or hass ssomething elsse brought you here?"

It took a moment to reply, "I have come for the wish! But I want to know the consequences before I decide to say it!"

"They all want to know the conssequencess... Very well, I will tell. It will be ssomething that will be ssurprising at firsst, but will sslowly make ssensse ass your time progressessss."

With each hiss, I shook more and regretted my search, but everything was too close to imagine, so I made my wish. "My wish is to become successful in life, so my family and friends will be proud, but I want to face challenges along the way, that will make my path harder! Will you be able to grant that?"

"That iss certainly a wish I have not heard in the passt. Ssadly, I cannot grant that. Only you can decide how your life goes, and I cannot influence it. Your trek up the path to find me will not be forgotten, though. Thiss iss where everything will change. You will ssee when you awake."

At that moment, the eyes closed, and the darkness of this void was filled with a bright light as I awoke in a spot that wasn't where I dozed off. This spot was within the confines of my bedroom, as if nothing had changed from this morning, the alarm was beeping as the lock read 10 A.M. I eventually stopped the beeping as I lay there. Was that whole journey a dream? It was all so confusing, but nonetheless, I got ready for the seemingly repeating day, and exited my room.

((CREDIT FOR THIS PROMPT: writing-prompt-s on tumblr))